A west-end councillor surveyed the damage caused by the flooding and heavy rainfall around July 1, and called it “a disaster”. Coun. Laine Johnson said she was taken on a tour of Moodie Station and noted the absence of crushed stone typically supporting the tracks there, along with extensive flood and water damage around electrical equipment, among other things. She expressed concerns about “months of work undone” as track repairs and part replacements would most certainly be needed before making any new progress on the project. A formal assessment co-led by OC Transpo and the constructor, KEV, is ongoing, along with potential options for proceeding with the planned extension.
Process changes are being planned for bottle and empty container refunds in Quebec as its refund program has been seeing increased wait times at some of its depots, particularly one in close proximity to downtown Ottawa. Consignaction, the organization overseeing the refund depots, announced on Monday that Ontario residents will only be served at Express Return stations for their empties, meaning that refunds can only be issued for registered app users. This comes after concerns were raised regarding the overwhelming volume of returns being received at a depot in Gatineau, likely due to the “unique cross-border relationship with Ontario” there, Consignaction said. It also reminds consumers that returns for empties are only eligible for products purchased in Quebec, to address any paid “deposit-refunds” there, and out-of-province product claims remain illegal.
With the increasing average threat of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes touching down across the country, you may have noticed changes to the way alerts are presented on the federal website. That’s because Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), the federal weather body, made enhancements to severe weather alerts to include only those more closely affected as opposed to an entire region. The new dynamic polygon system, among other improvements, will more closely follow active weather alerts, leading to more localized notifications for tornado and severe thunderstorm watches, in an effort to reduce false or excessive alarms for less-affected residents. Gordon Howard, director of emergency services in Kenora, noted that “people can become desensitized and may be less likely to take future warnings seriously”, and that the new system could help to reduce the risk of “alert fatigue”.
