Opinion: Winter woes inspire call for kindness
By Sarah Trick For most people this season marks the start of some fun adventures, like skiing, sledding, or snowball fights. But for people in wheelchairs like me, the first snowfall is a cause for pure dread. My motorized wheelchair, which gives me so much freedom most of the time, is completely useless in the snow. I wasn’t too worried this past Sunday night as I made my way to an Advent carol service. In fact, I was looking forward to getting into the spirit of the season. While on the bus, I thought about what I wanted to say in my op-ed column for this week’s Times. I wanted to get across to readers how much harder winter was for some of us, how it rendered us either housebound or in peril. I’ll give lots of advice to clueless able-bodied people, I thought. It will be great. But when the bus stopped calling out the stops and let me off far from my destination, I knew I was in trouble. As regular OC Transpo riders know, a few years ago the transit company started an automated system for calling the stops, which has been a godsend for those of us with disabilities. Obviously it helps people with visual impairments to know where they’re going, but since wheelchairs must face the rear of the bus, it tells us too. But last Sunday night, the automated voice went silent, leaving me adrift in an unfamiliar area of downtown. I missed my stop without even knowing it had gone by. The bus driver was sympathetic but was no help, saying he “had to focus on driving.” After pointing me in a direction (which I later found out was the wrong one), he was off to his next stop. The sidewalk wasn’t plowed and the snow was too much for my chair. I hadn’t gone very far before my wheels were spinning. Undaunted, I did what any resourceful young person would do: I got out my phone and started whining on social media. This accomplished nothing except to worry my mother. After about half an hour of cursing, I noticed a young woman walking by and called for help. She quickly called her roommates, and the four of them began an epic quest to get me back to the main road. This took up much of the rest of their evening, since they had to fish me out of several more snow banks as I kept going, and I am very grateful. So instead of ranting about how the able-bodied just don’t get it, I will thank Samantha, Laura, Jenna, Kelly and...
Ontario testing needle-free flu vaccine for children
By Thomas Hall and Shannon Lough Ottawa Public Health wrapped up its biggest flu shot campaign ever this weekend but researchers are still looking for a more effective way to prevent the flu in children. Some say the answer is FluMist, a vaccination that is sprayed into your nose and not shot through a needle. The FluMist vaccination has been publicly funded for children by B.C., Alberta, Quebec, PEI, and the three territories. Currently, Public Health Ontario is studying the nasal spray vaccination in schools to determine whether this vaccine is the best option for children between the ages of two and eight. Good news for those scared of needles. “The goal of the flu vaccination campaign is to vaccinate everyone, especially those most at risk for complications from the flu, including children from six months to five years of age, seniors and the chronically ill,” said Dr. Jennifer Pereira of Public Health Ontario. Making vaccines more efficient is critical for success, said Earl Brown, a professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa who specializes in vaccination. Unlike other viruses, the flu changes every year, so people need to get vaccinated annually. But technology is allowing for more effective flu shots, said Brown. And scientists are better able than ever to pinpoint strains of the virus, and predict which strains will hit hardest come flu season. Unfortunately, those who need the flu shot most, seniors and the very young, can be the hardest to vaccinate, said Brown. A few years ago Canada introduced Adjuvant to its vaccines, which acts like a booster making the vaccines more effective for seniors. Public Health Ontario is hoping FluMist can do the same for children. The new vaccine consists of Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine (LAIV), a weakened influenza virus that has been found to be more effective than the traditional flu shot for children aged two to 17 years, said Pereira. The trick, explained Brown, is that the virus has been weakened so it can’t survive in the lungs. The virus lasts long enough to create antibodies, and then dies. “No one ever died from a runny nose,” joked Brown, but the risk is serious when the flu gets into the lungs. The flu is the most likely respiratory infection to send someone to the hospital, Brown said. And its symptoms, sore muscles, nausea, and fever are not to be taken lightly. Studies on FluMist, the brand name for the LAIV nasal spray vaccine produced by AstraZeneca, have shown positive results, but it has only been approved for Canadians between the ages of two to 59. A pilot study is being conducted at 10...
First taste of winter for Tibetans starting a new life in Ottawa
By Shannon Lough Volunteers held bags full of winter jackets as ten Tibetans arrived in Ottawa airport last Friday night to begin their new lives in Canada. As the newcomers came down the escalator, a group of volunteers were there to welcome and prepare them for the bitter –16 C temperature outside. On a night that felt more like the chill of mid-January than November, people came prepared to equip the new Canadians with winter coats. Tashi Wangdi, the retired home minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile, had garbage bags full of puffy jackets for the newcomers. Tenzin Tsangyang, one of the new arrivals, had traveled for more than 24 hours from New Delhi, India. “I’m exhausted but at the same time very excited,” Tsangyang said. He did some research on the internet to prepare for life and winter in Ottawa. “I heard it’s a very cold place. Other than that I heard that it’s one of the capital cities.” Champa Tenzin, a Tibetan who moved to Canada six months ago, was one of the volunteers handing out jackets. A smiling Tenzin said that Wangdi recruited him to bring the jackets. He said he is excited to experience his first winter. “I haven’t seen a lot of snow and some of my friends are telling me the middle of winter is very cold. I want to experience it,” Tenzin said. The ten newcomers to Ottawa are part of the Tibetan Resettlement Project, a special immigration plan organized by the Canadian government and a volunteer organization. In 2007, there was an agreement between the Dalai Lama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper to bring in 1000 Tibetans from Arunachal Pradesh, a refugee community in Northern India. After years of organization, the process is finally underway. Over the next two years, 90 Tibetans will make their way to Ottawa and this first group will have the opportunity to get settled during Canadian winter. Other Tibetans who were at the airport to welcome the new arrivals reflected on their first Canadian winter. Wangmo Konchok moved to Ottawa two years ago with her mother. She was sponsored to live here by her sister and her sister’s husband, David McDowell. “When they came two years ago it was the absolute mildest winter we ever had and she thought it was cold,” McDowell said. He said he remembers later during that winter his wife and newly arrived sister-in-law “went for a walk and she’s chanting ‘Very cold, going to die.’” He laughs at the memory. In spite of the cold, Konchok has attempted some winter activities since she came to Ottawa. “I tried to learn to skate but...
Road salt use in Ottawa still climbing
By Micki Cowan and Allison McNeely City hall initiatives to reduce salt use on Ottawa’s snowy roads seem to have melted away. Ottawa has a salt management plan which aims to reduce salt use over the long term. The 2014 transportation budget allocates new funding to support salt reduction techniques such as wetting the salt in advance so that it can be spread in liquid form. Another innovation uses GPS to track where trucks are spreading to avoid duplication. But the city’s program manager for operational research, Maxwell Miner, said the city isn’t actually using less salt than in previous years and there are no new initiatives proposed to directly reduce salt use. “City council approved a pretty rich set of quality standards. It calls for a lot of salting, meaning a lot of the road networks need to be bare or centre-bare,” Miner said. This means it is difficult to meet salt reduction goals. The city’s road salt usage varies depending on the amount of snowfall, but more than 181,0oo tonnes of salt were used on Ottawa’s roads in 2012, according to data provided by the city. That’s roughly the weight of 30,000 elephants who, if lined end to end, would reach from here to Montreal. That amount is also the highest the city has seen since 2008. A report on salt use says the city aims to clear snow down to bare pavement within four hours on high priority roads, most arterials, and most major collector roads near schools, transit or bike lanes. But clearer roads mean more salt. Coun. David Chernushenko said while he doesn’t know of any new initiatives to reduce road salt, the increased funding in the budget for ongoing salt reduction programs means the city is already more economical with its salt use. “In some cases we want to just carry on what we’re doing,” said Chernushenko. In 2011, the city agreed to do a pilot project with Earth Innovations, a company that makes an environmentally friendly salt alternative called EcoTraction. But Earth Innovations CEO Mark Watson said the pilot project never went forward. “We’re absolutely interested in doing a pilot project. We always have been,” Watson said. “To this day I still don’t understand why they cancelled the initiative.” Chernushenko said the city cancelled the project because the product is more expensive than the salt currently used in Ottawa. Environment Canada developed a risk management plan for handling road salts in 2001, after finding it is toxic and harms groundwater, soil and plants. The city voluntarily signed on to the proposal and it forms the basis of its salt management plans. This...
Warm temperatures threaten Rideau skateway’s future
By Thomas Hall and Clayton Andres Winter in Ottawa is the time of year when the world’s largest, naturally frozen ice rink opens, but there could be a time when skating on the Rideau Canal will be impossible, according to a study on global warming. The 2011 study out of McGill University found “warming of winter temperatures in Canada is having a deleterious effect on the outdoor skating season.” The Rideau Canal skateway happens to be the Guinness Book of World Records’ largest outdoor rink in the world. You don’t need tropical weather to shut down outdoor rinks, said Chris Burn, a Carleton University professor who specializes in geography and environmental studies. A small rise in average temperatures could do it, Burn said, and the average temperature in Ottawa has gone up by about one degree since the early 1980s. “I don’t think I’ll see it in my lifetime,” Burn said. “But in the next 30 years we will start to think about whether a skating season is sustainable.” ‘The weather is everything.’ – Jean Wolff Burn said you need about five cold weeks to make the skateway viable. Conditions that don’t get cold enough could make opening for the season a risky investment for the National Capital Commission, which owns the skateway. Andrew Kaleta, manager of environmental stewardship at the Commission, said climate change is a concern, and that the commission has looked at what to do should the ice not form properly. “We are always looking to find contingency plans for events, like possibly moving them off the ice surface,” said Kaleta. The skateway not only needs cold weather to be a success, but nice weather too. The nearly eight-kilometre-long rink has become a “Canadian icon,” said Jean Wolff, a spokesperson with the National Capital Commission. “The weather is everything,” Wolff said. “If it’s nice like last year we get more people out.” In 2012, about 17,000 visitors used the skateway each day, but that number went up to 22,000 last season due to sunny days and relatively tepid temperatures. One company concerned with the trend towards shorter seasons on the skateway is Beavertail, which makes the flat fried dough that has been sold along the canal for 30 years. Adam Hendren is a local store manager and one of four licensees who sells Beavertails on the canal. Although Hendren said they are a long way from the time when selling Beavertails on the canal is not worthwhile, the trend toward shorter seasons is a concern. While the National Capital Commission is concerned about the long-term impact of climate change on the skateway, it’s also concerned about more...