Hello,

…and happy new year.

After being mostly closed for the past two winters (and fully closed for one of them) the Rideau Canal Skateway is now completely open for its entire length.

And frankly, the ice has been great for skating this year. This is in part because of efforts by the National Capital Commission, which has been spreading water over the ice each night to freeze and create a smooth surface. The Globe and Mail reports that engineering and environmental studies professors and students at Carleton University are undertaking research in a four year program that started in 2022, to determine how to keep the Skateway open for longer in future winters amidst a changing climate.

In sadder news: the last PEN newsletter discussed the 2024 Hunger Report released by the Ottawa Food Bank in November, which revealed that rates of food insecurity in Ottawa had risen to a “staggering” 1 in 4 Ottawa households. But earlier this year, the Food Bank made the unhappy announcement that its 98 food programs across the city would be receiving 20-50% less food to distribute than they have in years past.

The Food Bank says they haven’t able to buy enough food to meet the rising demand, as the number of annual visits to their banks has risen from 280,000 to 550,000 since 2019.

More about the Food Bank’s decision can be found in articles by CBC and Maclean’s.

Ottawa is not the only city affected. Kingston City Council has recently declared a food insecurity emergency, following similar declarations in Toronto and Mississauga. Matt Noble, executive director of the Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank and the "Put Food Banks Out Of Business" campaign, told CBC that the existence of food banks indicates that governments are failing to address food insecurity. Food Banks were first implemented on a large scale in Canada in 1980s as a temporary measure—but almost half a century later, they’re still around.

Stories from the PEN!

This month’s stories from the PEN include:

• A reprinted blog post from the Alliance to End Homelessness shares the organization’s remarks presented to the City of Ottawa's Planning Committee about the city’s proposed municipal renoviction bylaw.

• Rideau Roundtable is using biochar to address environmental issue, like soil contamination at a site in Smiths Falls, in Unlocking the Power of Biochar.

From the PEN Archives

The 1988 December/January edition of the Ottawa Peace Calendar (later renamed as the PEN) included a write-up of that year’s Ontario Peace Conference. About 70 delegates convened for the event in Eden Mills, ON, to hear keynote speakers and attend workshops about civil disobedience and strategies for community resistance.

Announcements

• Check out here for a list of webinars hosted by the Capacity Building Institute on the third Tuesday of every month from 4-5 PM EST, with information designed to help nonprofits. Topics include “Reading Financial Statements,” “Communicating with Volunteers,” “AI to Streamline Nonprofits,” and more!

• Eco-Internships is welcoming its 2025 cohort of young Canadians entering the nonprofit sector, with an expanded program that now offers both internship and volunteer opportunities.

• Sea Change Canada is hosting a Coastal Networking Night where you can connect with like-minded individuals, exchange ideas, and potentially discover new opportunities!

Other News

• The Energy Mix reports on battery energy storage systems (BESS) as Evolugen, a Gatineau-based unit of Brookfield Renewables, seeks to build a 250-megawatt BESS facility in Ottawa’s rural west end, in South March.

• The city’s Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee has also voted to change the Official Plan’s rules regarding Battery Energy Storage Systems amidst controversy about where they should be sited. The changes include rules setting a maximum size limit.

• Ontarians will be voting on February 27 now that Premier Doug Ford has triggered a snap provincial election.

• Ottawa Riverkeeper concluded a five year study showing—in no uncertain terms—that road salt contamination is making local water systems toxic to wildlife. Of about 500 water samples collected over 5 years from 45 locations at streams in populated areas that feed into the Ottawa River, only 10% had safe levels of chloride (the key component of road salt).

• Neil Saravanamuttoo estimates that, by his calculations, the plans for Lansdowne 2.0 would result in a 1% rise in property tax to cover the financing.

  • City Council is set to make a final approval on the $419 million project sometime this year, though concerns about the plans have been raised by city staff and community associations. CBC writes that “Lansdowne 2.0's design has already received a lot of feedback from experts, and not all of it is good. And several things that have been flagged likely won't be modified.”

• Ontario NDP MPP Joel Harden has submitted papers to run for a seat in the next federal election. Meanwhile, City SHAPES co-founder and former city Councillor Catherine McKenney is running as and NDP candidate for MPP in Ottawa Centre.

• Ottawa will receive $180 million funding from the federal government from 2026 to 2036, to spend on in transit infrastructure funding. The money is intended for capital spending, not operating costs.

I look forward to connecting with you again next month through the PEN Newsletter. In the meantime, please use the comments section of the newsletter or email [email protected] with thoughts or questions.

—Christopher Bonasia, PEN editor

PERC appreciates all of our readers for giving us this chance to connect with members of our community, and we love being able to provide you with a forum to discuss pressing environmental and social justice issues.

But we also rely on your support to make this happen. If you are interested in helping our organization continue to use storytelling and networking to help individuals, non-profits, and community groups work locally for a greener and more peaceful world, please consider making a donation to the Peace and Environment Resource Centre.