Today's letters: Ottawa's anti-idling bylaw is just a 'baby step'

Saturday, Oct. 12: Idle hands? Ottawa's air quality has not been addressed by the city government, says one reader. You can write to us too, at [email protected]

Published Oct 12, 2024  •  Last updated 3 hours ago  •  6 minute read

Cars sit idling in an Ottawa car wash lineup. Photo by JULIE OLIVER /POSTMEDIA

Put a price on traffic congestion

Re: Anti-idling bylaw watered down, Oct. 4.

Mayor Mark Sutcliffe called the updated anti-idling bylaw a success, a big step forward. Not really; it’s a baby step. The 2007 bylaw was in fact enforced when it was introduced: citizens called the bylaw department, it attended and did its job, the normal practice.

The issue of air quality in Ottawa has not been addressed by the city government. In the past 17 years, idling has become a trivial issue in relation to other emissions from vehicles in Ottawa. Highway 417 and many streets in Ottawa are routinely congested; the vehicles are essentially idling in slow motion. The only solution is less traffic, not more lanes. Premier Doug Ford does not know that, but some municipalities do. They price congestion.

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Ottawa should follow suit. Pricing automobile congestion has a further benefit. It would encourage the use of transit, reducing the financial burden on the municipal taxpayer.

John Hollins, Gloucester

Anti-idling bylaw is important step

Re: City council is getting mired in the minutiae, Oct. 8.

In his hostility to the municipal idling bylaw, columnist Randall Denley himself misses the big picture. It may be true that the bylaw will, at best, lead to a one per cent decrease in greenhouse gas emissions from transport in Ottawa. But 100 per cent is made up of 100 one per cents.

There is no silver bullet for climate change, but rather thousands of cumulative, incremental acts are needed. If we dismiss each one because of its marginal benefit, we’ll end up doing nothing.

Moreover, the other reason for the idling bylaw is to improve local air quality. Fewer noisy, smoky vehicles idling in our neighbourhoods will certainly be a welcome change.

Douglas Scott Proudfoot, Ottawa

Pandemic rules also brought clean air

How quickly we have forgotten the cleaner air during the pandemic, when most everyone had to work from home. It significantly reduced air pollution, and breathing fresh air was becoming a norm.

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What an oxymoron that our government, which set goals to save the planet, is now doing just the opposite and sending our government employees back to the office.

Luanne Doll, Cornwall

Traffic flex posts are a waste of money

Re: Ottawa’s traffic flex posts drive us nuts. But they work, Oct. 8.

Our councillor had these flex stakes installed last year on our small crescent. The first city crew came to paint diagonal lines on the pavement at multiple various spots around the crescent; then another crew came to install the plates and stakes. I was told they were seasonal and they would be removed by another crew in the fall.

It did nothing to stop a few yahoos who thought they were in a NASCAR race. So this year, the city sent a crew to remove the plates and another crew to instead paint “40 km/h” in large letters on the pavement in a couple of spots on the crescent. The original unsightly diagonal lines will remain, I guess, until rain washes them away in the next decade.

So much for our tax dollars, which Mayor Mark Sutcliffe so desperately needs.

Marlena Floyd, Ottawa

Is Ottawa setting records for construction?

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As a daily driver in Ottawa, I’m just wondering if the city is trying to achieve a record for having the most major construction projects happening simultaneously?

Would it not be better to focus on finishing fewer projects faster than having so many ongoing for years, to reduce the traffic chaos?

Roslyn Richardson, Ottawa

Doug Ford’s tunnel plan is fiscal madness

Re: Doug Ford’s tunnel idea is simple, and simplistic, Oct. 7.

Premier Doug Ford’s proposal to build a tunnel beneath Highway 401 in the GTA, and possibly also buy back Highway 407 for $29 billion — a tolled by-pass road that the province sold to a private consortium in 1999 for $3.1 billion — will not fall on deaf ears despite their enormous cost. The reason is our reliance on cars for personal transportation, and trucks for our commercial needs. But neither justifies the exorbitant price.

The GTA portion of Highway 401 has undergone numerous expansions, reaching 18 lanes at its widest point. But each time drivers have ended up where they started, facing the same or even greater traffic congestion. Building a tunnel without a reasonable assurance that things will turn out differently would surely qualify as fiscal madness.

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So too would purchasing a toll highway for much more than what it was sold for and foregoing toll revenues to lure traffic away from Highway 401 in the hope of decreasing overall congestion.

Ford’s sense of urgency may nonetheless prevail over reason, and perhaps become an infamous reminder of an evocative proverb about futility: “A hasty man drinks his tea with a fork.”

Patrick Bendin, Ottawa

Ottawa’s garbage policy means more rats

Re: Letter, Ottawa’s garbage pick-up policy won’t solve the problem, Oct. 8.

“It’ll just be hidden — in rural culverts and ditches,” says one letter-writer.

Not only will this new garbage pick-up policy not solve any part of the problem, it will add to Ottawa’s ever-growing rodent problem as garbage is left at wayside.

Why do our policymakers fail to see the obvious?

Brian Vissers, Orléans

Thanks for saving wastewater surveillance project

Re: Ottawa’s wastewater surveillance program extended for another year, Oct. 4.

I would like to give a big shoutout to CHEO, the CHEO Research Institute, the University of Ottawa and Ottawa Public Health for funding an extension of wastewater surveillance.

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This is a vital service to Ottawa. The information and trend data help us manage our interactions with others and help us make safe choices. Wastewater surveillance is very much appreciated by us all.

Susan Dell, Ottawa

Canada must properly fund global vaccine alliance

A well-known African proverb states that when you educate a woman, you educate a nation. But how can she be educated if she can’t be reached? A study by Gavi, the global vaccine alliance, shows that social and cultural norms, and the unequal status of women in many societies, can reduce the chances of children being vaccinated, by preventing their caregivers from accessing immunization services.

It is often women’s responsibility to bring children for vaccination; yet women in lower-income countries often face gender-related barriers to doing so, including: lack of access to information on disease prevention; time constraints due to high household workload; and limited funds for transport.

Gavi has developed a policy that focuses on overcoming gender-related barriers faced primarily by caregivers, health workers and adolescents. First, it aims to transform gender roles by highlighting the importance of engaging men in caregiving to promote positive health-seeking behaviours for their families.

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Second, 70 per cent of the world’s health-care workers are female, yet only 25 per cent of global health leaders are women. The gender policy seeks to recognize the difference in the needs of all genders in the health-care workforce to ensure their ability to work safely and effectively; and thus ensure women workers are rewarded and promoted adequately.

Last, this gender policy seeks to reach adolescents with the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, amongst others.

However, to ensure every woman is given an equal chance at success, Canada needs to support Gavi by making a pledge of at least $720 million to the vaccine alliance’s 2026-2030 strategy. Gavi promises not only to deliver life-saving vaccines but to also break the gender-related barriers that often inhibit countless children from accessing them.

Santa Amanda Mugabekazi, Ottawa

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