Opposition Bill Wants Ontario to Ban Fracking
NDP MPP Peter Tabuns speaking with reporters at Queen’s Park. (CBC News Image.) New Democratic MPP Peter Tabuns introduced a private member’s bill Wednesday encouraging the Liberals to adopt a…
Ministry of Natural Resources
Ontario’s endangered species get their day in court
Endangered American Eel. LAWYERS ACTING ON BEHALF of the Ontario government told the courts last month that Ontario’s endangered species legislation is now only concerned with the most dire of…
Ontario Invasive Species Act gets second chance
A control test site for invasive plant phragmites at Wasaga Beach on Lake Huron. LIBERAL NATURAL RESOURCE MINISTER Bill Mauro reintroduced the Invasive Species Act Wednesday, the first standalone legislation…
NDP propose tough rules for importing Asian carp
On Oct. 1, New Democratic MP Brian Masse from Windsor, Ontario introduced a private member’s bill calling for tougher action and better coordination across Canadian governments in the fight against…
Ottawa completes $400,000 Asian carp science lab
A $400,000 ASIAN CARP science lab was opened by Public Works Minister Diane Finley Monday as part of $17.5 million committed by Ottawa to fight the spread of this aquatic…
MNR lacks real-time data on controversial spring bear hunt
Black bear. (Flickr photo by Casey Brown) JUST OVER HALFWAY through the reintroduced six-week spring bear hunt, which runs from May 1 to June 15, the province of Ontario has…
Environmental Legislation Killed by the Ontario Election
Environment Minister Jim Bradley and Natural Resources Minister David Orazietti speak with reporters at Queen’s Park. June, 2013. (Photo by Andrew Reeves) SO WE KEEP WAITING. Ontario’s environmental community had…
Kathleen Wynne’s environmental ups and downs
Feature image: Ontario Rangers youth gather at Queen’s Park in January, 2013 to protest cuts to a Ministry of Natural Resources program many former participants claim changed their lives. Ontario…
Swimming against the odds
Few of the hundreds of thousands of Chinook salmon introduced into Lake Ontario each year survive to maturity, but the Ministry of Natural Resources is still betting on them to…
Canada-Ontario Agreement targets aquatic invasives in Great Lakes
Beefing up protections against aquatic invasive species like Asian carp has taken a prominent place in the latest Canada-Ontario Agreement (COA) governing how both governments aim to work together on…
Time running out on ELA interim agreement
Researchers working at one of 58 lakes in the Experimental Lakes Area in northern Ontario. Only three days remain to finalize the interim agreement to find a new operator for…
Ontario strengthens tools to combat invasives
MNR Minister David Orazietti introduces the Invasives Species Act at Queen’s Park. Groundbreaking legislation a first of its kind in Canada – aims to fill in legislative gaps in combatting…
Ontario Court backs Gilead Power at Ostrander Point
South Shore of Ostrander Point (Image from CountyLive.com) Seven months after learning a contentious wind project at Ostrander Point had been halted by the Environmental Review Tribunal, an Ontario divisional…
Federal court knocks Ottawa for failing to protect endangered species — Ontario could be next
Woodland caribou listed in Canada as a species-at-risk. (Photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller is warning Queen’s Park could face sharp reprimands by the…
Green neighbours collide over wind power project
It’s dispiriting when newly rival factions of the environmental movement clash over what has become a touchy subject in green circles. Worse when disagreements end up in the justice system.…
Ontario Government “Failed Miserably” to Protect Endangered Species
Woodland Caribou (Flickr image from Jim Winstead) The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) has shown a “shocking disregard” for its legal obligation to consult with the public on numerous changes…
Asian carp capable of breeding in Great Lakes: USGS scientists
Captured grass carp at Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans research lab in Burlington, ON (Andrew Reeves) Anyone doubting whether Asian carp could successfully breed in the Great Lakes watershed got…
Grass carp found in Grand River sterile
It could have been worse. When the Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced on May 3 that a Grass carp caught in the Grand River near Lake Erie was sterile,…
Local Knowledge Key in Land Restoration Program
Building off the idea that few comprehend the environmental challenges occurring in their backyards better than those who witness them daily, the Ontario government has re-launched yet another program to…
Algonquin Park: A Waste Diversion Success Story
Algonquin Park at sunrise. Flickr image by Karin Lewis. The crown jewel of Ontario’s provincial park system is being recognized for hitting a crucial milestone not often associated with our…