Tag: environment

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Cottage Life

Can you spot it? New Pokemon-inspired guide helps people explore nature

Photo by mvc_stock/Shutterstock

As a kid, Natalie Rudkins and her family would pack up the car and drive two hours from her home in Barrie to visit a relative outside Bancroft, Ont. On her relative’s property was a pond where Rudkins spent her time squishing through the mud in search of leopard frogs, garter snakes, and crayfish. At night, she watched the curved wings of bats crest the dark sky. And sometimes, from a distance, she might spot a black bear stumbling through the nearby trees.

These moments sparked Rudkins’ interest in the natural world. During her environmental science degree at the University of Waterloo, Rudkins got into birding and botanizing; downloading apps to help her identify species. One of these apps was called Seek. The app challenged users to photograph different species to unlock achievements.

“It’s really gamified, and it’s a great way for people to find things,” Rudkins says.

This idea of gamifying wildlife spotting motivated Rudkins to create the Naturedex. Inspired by the Pokemon franchise, Rudkins, who now works for the Credit Valley Conservation Authority in Mississauga, created a nature guide that featured 151 different species from the Toronto area (the same number of species in the original Pokemon series).

“For this, I used species you could spot within 30 kilometres of Toronto’s city hall, which ends up being Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Markham, and Vaughan,” she says.

On the Naturedex is a picture of each species with several stats, including whether they’re endangered, how difficult it is to spot the species, and which season you’re most likely to see them.

Each species’ endangered status is based on published lists from the Toronto and Credit Valley Conservation Authorities. To communicate the status, Rudkins used emojis. “I thought that was a really easy way to get the message across,” she says.

If the species has a smiley face, it means they’re thriving in the Toronto area and aren’t a conservation concern. A frowning face means the species is at risk in urban areas. A sad face means the species is trending towards endangered. An angry face means the species is non-native to the area. And a neutral face means the conservation authorities have yet to rank the species’ endangered status.

When giving each species a difficulty ranking for observation, Rudkins used a star system, with one star being the least difficult to find and three stars being the most. She based the ranking on the citizen science platform iNaturalist, where users post photos of wildlife they’ve seen. A species with fewer photos meant a higher difficulty ranking.

“It ranged from like 5,000 to 6,000 observations for something like a monarch or a pigeon, all the way down to less than 50 for things like loons,” she says.

To use the Naturedex, Rudkins recommends printing the guide out and hanging it on a wall or fridge. You can then check off each species you see on the guide. Some of the more difficult species to spot include the bald eagle, common loon, and gray tree frog. Others, such as the trillium, can be difficult depending on the season. And the fish are tricky unless you spend a lot of time fishing.

Rudkins estimates that she saw about 120 of the species on the list last year. One of her favourites is the Virginia ctenucha moth. “I put it on the list in an attempt to demonstrate to people that not all moths are these little brown, uninteresting things. Months can actually be kind of cool looking,” she says. “It has these dark black wings and its shoulders are a vibrant, shiny blue, and its face is completely furry orange.”

If you decide to take the Naturedex challenge, Rudkins suggests using the app Seek to confirm your sightings. She also recommends the app Merlin, which can record and identify bird calls. “It’s a lot easier to see birds if you know what they are,” she says.

According to Rudkins, the two main rules of the Naturedex are to respect wildlife by not disturbing them and to have fun.

“My main intention was to use it as a way to lure people into an activity that I find interesting and valuable,” she says. “I want it to be a resource for people to start recognizing the things that are around them.”

Pokemon-inspired Game
Photo Courtesy of Natalie Rudkins

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Cottage Life

Can the federal government intervene in Doug Ford’s Greenbelt development plan?

Asclepias, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault has said he may intervene in the Ford government’s plan to develop sections of the Greenbelt. During an interview with The Narwhal, he said it was possible the federal government could use the Species at Risk Act to halt planned development near the Rouge National Urban Park in Toronto—a known corridor for Blanding’s turtles, an at-risk species. Or, he said, the government could use the Impact Assessment Act, which the feds used in 2021 to determine whether Ontario’s Highway 413, needed additional federal oversight.

While the statement from Guilbeault is the first time that he’s publicly stated the federal government could attempt to intervene, he has been voicing concerns over Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s intention to build 50,000 homes on sections of protected Greenbelt land.

During a press conference in Toronto in January, the minister said that the provincial government’s plan to remove 7,400 acres of land from the Greenbelt for development, “flies in the face of everything we’re trying to do in terms of being better prepared for the impacts of climate change.”

At a press conference in Brampton, Ford told reporters he was disappointed to hear Guilbeault’s comments, “This is our jurisdiction,” he said. “You can’t complain about not having enough housing for years and then complain when we come up with a solution to do it. We’re going to continue building the 50,000 homes on those pieces of property.”

Despite Ford’s confidence, the Greenbelt development hit a snag in late January when Ontario’s integrity commissioner and auditor general announced they would be separately investigating the project to see whether the Ford government colluded with developers when opening the land for homebuilding.

Ford has denied any wrongdoing.

Can the federal government legally intervene?

Assuming the project does move forward, there are no guarantees that the federal government will intervene in the Greenbelt development. “There’s a certain amount of signaling communication, of sending messages, sending hard messages, sending soft messages that are public. And then there’s, of course, what the governments are saying to each other privately,” says Patrick Fafard, a professor in the University of Ottawa’s department of public and international affairs. “The minister’s comment was not accidental. It was very deliberate. But it’s really hard, based on the limited information we have, to know what their ultimate goal is. I would leave open the possibility that there’s a range of goals of which actually going and using federal legislation to frustrate the build may not actually be the only goal or may not even be the goal. There could be other things going on.”

In regards to using the Species at Risk Act to stop development, Fafard says the act doesn’t give the federal government authority over private land or Crown land, which make up much of the areas set to be developed. It does, however, give the federal government authority over national parks, such as the Rouge National Urban Park, and adjacent land where species-at-risk may move through.

The Impact Assessment Act is more ambiguous. Fafard says it’s unclear whether the federal or provincial government’s environmental assessment takes precedence over a given project. “[Guilbeault’s comments] may be the federal government taking advantage of that ambiguity,” he says.

If the federal government decided to use legislation to intervene with the Greenbelt development, it is possible that the provincial government could push back by taking the feds to court.

“Canadian history is littered with examples, where for all sorts of reasons, good, bad, and indifferent, the government of Canada takes an action and says, ‘We’re going to use our authority to do this.’ And one or more provincial governments say, ‘No, we don’t like that.’ So, it goes to the Supreme Court,” Fafard says. “The Supreme Court for 150 years has been in the business of issuing rulings that say, ‘Well, we look at these two pieces of legislation, we look at the Constitution Act, and for the following reasons, we agree that the federal government has the authority or we don’t agree that the federal government has the authority.’”

Will the federal government intervene?

Julie Simmons, a political science professor at the University of Guelph, says she wonders if the federal government has started to shy away from intervening with the Greenbelt development. “The fact that the Environment Minister has not repeated what he said suggests to me that this is not a strategy that the Prime Minister’s Office is supporting at this time.”

She speculates that it could be because the federal government is in the midst of negotiating health care agreements with each province. If a problem, like the Greenbelt development, rears its head elsewhere, it could have ripple effects on the negotiations.

“The federal government isn’t likely to want to be micromanaging what’s happening in Ontario in this instance,” Simmons says. “If there’s a media spotlight on something that’s not what the federal government is focusing on currently with the provinces, then there is political capital to be lost or gained.”

Simmons does add, however, that Guilbeault and Ford butting heads over the Greenbelt could be beneficial.

“There is a train of thought that the environment benefits when there is friction between the two governments because there is a little bit more overlap of care for the environment,” she says, “rather than streamlining of care for the environment, which sometimes means streamlining for the benefit of industry.”

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Cottage Life

Ontario’s integrity commissioner and auditor general investigating Greenbelt development

Photo by Shutterstock/NelzTabcharani316

On Wednesday, Ontario’s integrity commissioner and auditor general announced that they would both be launching separate investigations into the provincial government’s Greenbelt development plan.

In December 2022, Premier Doug Ford’s government finalized a plan that would remove 7,400 acres of land from the province’s protected Greenbelt to build 50,000 homes. While examining the plan, a team of journalists from the Toronto Star and The Narwhal discovered that eight of the 15 Greenbelt parcels selected for development had been purchased by developers after 2018, when Ford was elected. Opening the land to development made the parcels extremely valuable, leading some to believe that the Ford government had tipped off developers before the November 4 announcement.

On November 28, Mike Schreiner, Ontario’s Green party leader, sent a letter and an affidavit to J. David Wake, the province’s integrity commissioner in charge of enforcing ethical conduct among Ontario’s members of parliament. In the letter, Schreiner asked him to investigate whether Ford and Steve Clark, the province’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, had contravened the Members’ Integrity Act by providing insider information and engaged in a conflict of interest regarding the Greenbelt development.

When Wake asked Ford and Clark about the accusation, both denied it, claiming that “the selection of the affected lands was made by public servants who were subject to an enhanced confidentiality protocol and that the minister was briefed and accepted their proposal only a few days before he presented it to Cabinet.”

After assessing Schreiner’s request, Wake determined that there were insufficient grounds to investigate as the majority of supporting material were media articles, which don’t qualify as evidence in an inquiry.

On December 8, newly appointed Ontario NDP leader, Marit Stiles, provided an affidavit and “direct evidence” to convince Wake to launch an investigation into whether Clark had contravened the Members’ Integrity Act. Stiles did not ask Wake to investigate Ford.

A spokesperson for Clark responded to a request for comment in an email, stating the minister is confident that the integrity commissioner will find “there is no evidence that either the premier or the minister advanced their private interest through the recent changes to the Greenbelt.”

Stiles, Schreiner, and Ontario’s Liberal party leader, John Fraser, next wrote a joint letter to auditor general Bonnie Lysyk, who ensures public money is being spent responsibly, on January 11, asking her to conduct a “value-for-money audit and an assessment of the financial and environmental impacts of the government’s decision to remove land from the Greenbelt and repeal the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve Act.”

In response, Lysyk wrote a letter back to the MPPs on January 18, saying: “I would like to confirm that my office will be conducting certain audit work on this issue commencing within the next few weeks.”

In a statement responding to the investigations, Schreiner said: “I am pleased that both the integrity commissioner and the auditor general have agreed to investigate Ford’s decision to break his often-repeated promise not to open up areas of protected Greenbelt land for development. There are serious unanswered questions about how certain Conservative-connected land speculators knew to buy the parcels in question—some of these transactions occurring mere months before the government’s announcement. This whole affair does not pass the smell test.”

Stiles responded with a similar statement: “I am relieved to see that this matter is being treated with the seriousness that it deserves and pleased to see this response from the integrity commissioner and the auditor general. Ontarians are owed answers about the Greenbelt, and I am confident that today is a step in the right direction to understanding what happened.”

On top of the integrity commissioner and the auditor general’s investigations, non-profit organizations Environmental Defence and Democracy Watch are pushing the Ontario Provincial Police’s (OPP) anti-rackets branch to investigate whether the government did provide insider information to developers about the Greenbelt, amounting to a criminal breach of trust by a public officer.

“Removal of thousands of acres of legally protected farmland, forests, and wetlands from the Greenbelt threatens us all. A government doing so in a manner shrouded in secrecy that appears to benefit a select group of property owners, including recent purchasers, needs to be thoroughly investigated by the OPP,” said Tim Gray, Environmental Defence’s executive director, in a statement.

The OPP has yet to confirm whether it will press charges.

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Cottage Life

U.S. Department of Agriculture approves first-ever honeybee vaccine

Photo by Fiona M. Donnelly/Shutterstock

Beekeepers are buzzing with the news that the first honeybee vaccine has been granted conditional approval by the United States Department of Agriculture. The vaccine was created by biotech company Dalan Animal Health, and it protects honeybees against American Foulbrood, a bacterial disease with lethal consequences for bee colonies.

American Fouldbrood affects the larval stage of honeybees and can rapidly spread through a hive. As reported by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs website, the disease is fatal, and causes larvae to decompose into a gooey mess. It’s not a pleasant fate for a hive.

Confirming the presence of American Fouldbrood comes down to a very simple test. “The old methods still hold,” says Collette Mesher, the research lead for the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association. Once a beekeeper spots symptoms of the disease, they use what’s called a ropey test, she says. The keeper uses a stick to mush up the larvae, puts the stick in, pulls it out, and if the goop ropes or stretches more than two centimetres, the disease is confirmed.

Under the Bees Act of Ontario, American Fouldbrood must be reported once detected. It is a very virulent disease and can survive for up to 30 years on beekeeping equipment, say Ian Grant, director of the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association.

“Once it’s confirmed, the only solution is to quarantine the site and then bottle up the hive and burn everything—the bees and the equipment—and then your location is quarantined for two years,” he says. “If we don’t control it, it could possibly affect all of Ontario.”

Currently beekeepers in Ontario can ward against American Fouldbrood infection through the use of oxytetracycline, a common veterinary antibiotic. The drug is regulated by the World Health Organization and requires a veterinarian prescription. Beekeepers do have the special privilege to use the prescribed antibiotic in the spring and early fall to suppress infection, says Mesher, but this is a preventative measure, not a treatment. She adds that the World Health Organization wants to slow down or stop the preventative use of antibiotics to avoid antibiotic resistance developing.

“New research like this is exciting for us,” says Mesher. It might not replace current procedures, but it could be another tool. The fact that people are out there looking for alternatives is positive, she says.

The vaccine isn’t administered through a needle like your flu shot. Instead, the vaccine is fed to the hive’s queen bee, who will then pass on the immunity to their offspring. While Ontario doesn’t allow the import of honeybee colonies from the United States under the Bees Act, the province does allow the importation of queen bees under very strict conditions. California is a major player in queen bee breeding, so Grant says the vaccine tests in that state will be very interesting to watch.

Questions also remain about how the vaccine would fit into a beekeeper’s operation schedule.  Grant says administering the vaccine requires a beekeeper to isolate their queen bee for eight days from the hive. That’s a significant amount of time where the queen is out of production, he adds.

The vaccine is still under conditional approval and has not been fully tested. For now, Ontario beekeepers are watching and waiting to see the results of the roll out in the United States. “It’s several season away before we would see it here in Canada,” says Mesher.

In the meantime, both Mesher and Grant have suggestions on how to support Ontario’s beekeepers. “We’re a significant part of the agri-food sector, but we’re well hidden,” says Grant. One third of your food supply is pollinated by honeybees, as good a reason as any to want healthy bees.

For folks who want a hands-on experience with honeybees, Ontario has 33 local beekeepers’ associations that welcome newcomers. Property owners can also partner with commercial and hobby beekeepers to host hives on their land, says Mesher.

And the most delicious option to support local honeybees and their keepers? Buy local honey.

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Parks Canada bans personal vehicles from Moraine Lake in Banff National Park

Photo by Shutterstock/Lucky-photographer

Perched 1,800 metres above sea level, in Banff National Park’s Valley of the Ten Peaks, is the turquoise water of Moraine Lake, one of the park’s crown jewels. Tranquil, meditative, and quiet—or at least that’s how it appears in pictures. However, behind the lens is a different story. Parks Canada says this tourist hotspot has become inundated with visitors.

To combat the overcrowding and protect the natural resource, the agency announced that it will be closing Moraine Lake Road to personal vehicles. “Demand to reach Moraine Lake far exceeds available parking. In 2022, traffic flaggers were required 24 hours a day to manage the demand for access. During the peak of summer 2022, the parking lot remained full nearly 24 hours a day,” Parks Canada said in a statement.

Visitors are welcome to walk or bike to Moraine Lake, which is 14 kilometres south of Lake Louise, or there will be Parks Canada shuttles, Roam Transit, and other commercial transportation, such as tour buses, operating from June through mid-October.

By closing the road, Parks Canada said it will reduce stress for wildlife in Banff National Park, which use a section of Moraine Lake Road as a corridor; it will eliminate approximately four tonnes of carbon emissions per day; and it will remove the uncertainty of visitors finding a parking spot.

Parks Canada said the closure will be in place for summer 2023 but hasn’t specified whether it will extend beyond that.

Lindsay Copeland, a Banff native who operates Rocky Mountain Photo Co., a wedding and elopement photography company, wasn’t surprised by the closure. “They have to do what they have to do to keep these areas sustainable so that people can continue going to visit them,” she said.

Copeland added that the experience was getting out of control. Sunrise at Moraine Lake had become a popular event, but to guarantee a parking spot, Copeland said you’d have to show up at 2:30 a.m. and then sleep in your car for two hours.

While the closure will limit visitors, Copeland said it shouldn’t affect her business. “It’s definitely one of the places we specialize in shooting. But we’ve already been operating with private transportation because of the way that the area was, because of the demand to get in there,” she said. “We have already been recommending private shuttles, and private transportation, so if anything, this is just confirming what we were already doing.”

Moraine Lake
Photo by Rocky Mountain Elopements/Rocky Mountain Photo Co.

The one major downside, from Copeland’s perspective, is that it will affect locals who like to hike in the area. “We have to now find a different way to get up there,” she said. “But I, myself, would have probably avoided the area because of how busy it was.”

Not all Albertans are as accepting of the closure. Todd Loewen, the province’s Minister of Forestry, Parks, and Tourism, published an open letter, calling on federal Ministers Steven Guilbeault, who heads the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, and Randy Boissonnault, in charge of the Ministry of Tourism, to reconsider the change.

“Parks Canada’s decision to block personal vehicles at Moraine Lake means fewer visitors to this important part of the province, less time to climb in the area, and less access to the backcountry,” he said. “Sunrise and sunset hikes or night photography are near impossible to achieve under this plan, unless people can afford to pay for commercial transportation or travel unsafely by foot or bike in the dark.”

In a tweet, Parks Canada stressed that the closure was enacted due to safety concerns around excessive vehicles and anecdotes from visitors about negative experiences trying to find parking.

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Mobile Syrup

Microsoft says Xbox is now the first ‘carbon aware’ console

Microsoft says Xbox is now the first “carbon aware” console brand.

In a broader blog post about its sustainability efforts in gaming, the company revealed a new console update that will schedule game, app and OS updates at specific times during the maintenance window to reduce carbon emissions. This means your console will awaken when it can use the most renewable energy in your local energy grid, which, in turn, can save you money.

This functionality is now available to Xbox Insiders across Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S and will roll out to everyone in the future.

Additionally, Xbox consoles now automatically update to the energy-saving Shutdown power option, which reduces power consumption when your console is turned off. This adjustable setting cuts power use by up to 20 times versus when a console is in ‘Sleep’ mode. Citing calculations sourced from the U.S. government’s Environmental Protection Agency, Xbox says that for every two consoles that switch to Shutdown for one year, they’ll save the equivalent amount of carbon removed by one tree planted and grown for a decade.

Meanwhile, Xbox Insiders will also see a new ‘Active hours’ setting. If you opt to continue using the ‘Sleep’ option, you can adjust your console’s active hours so it will only be available for remote wake during this time. During the inactive periods, it will only consume 0.5 W, vs. the 10-15 W it uses while awake.

You can view your console’s full range of energy consumption features by visiting Settings > General > Power options.

All of these features are part of Microsoft’s larger efforts to become a carbon-negative, water-positive, and zero-waste company by 2030.

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Cottage Life

Point Pelee National Park temporary closes for deer cull

Photo by Shutterstock/Roxana Gonzalez

Parks Canada has temporarily closed Point Pelee National Park to the public due to an overabundance of deer. The park, located on a Lake Erie peninsula in southwestern Ontario, will remain closed from January 5 to January 20 while Parks Canada conducts deer reduction activity.

“Parks Canada is responsible for maintaining and restoring ecological health in national parks. A high population (hyperabundance) of white-tailed deer in Point Pelee National Park is a serious threat to forest and savannah health and the species that depend on these precious habitats,” the agency said in a statement.

Park staff said that Point Pelee can sustainably house between 24 to 32 deer. The current deer population is estimated at 61 to 73 deer, more than double the park’s capacity. “Point Pelee National Park is home to a large amount of leafy vegetation, experiences mild winters, and, most importantly, lacks natural predators such as wolves, bears, and cougars which would have normally kept the deer population in balance,” the agency said.

The problem with too many deer

With so many deer left unchecked, native plants are being consumed faster than they can regenerate, damaging the health of the park’s Carolinian Forest, home to at-risk species such as the red mulberry tree, Eastern wood-pewee, and Eastern fox snake. Parks Canada said the deer are also impeding the restoration of the Lake Erie Sand Spit Savannah. This globally rare ecosystem supports 25 per cent of the species at risk in the park, including the five-lined skink.

What’s the solution?

To reduce the deer population, Parks Canada has partnered with Caldwell First Nation, whose traditional territory encompasses Point Pelee, to hunt the deer. “The population of White-tailed deer is reduced by means of an organized annual cull,” park staff said in an email.

Using rifles, 15 to 20 members of Caldwell First Nation and park staff will hunt the deer in the mornings and evenings, when the animals are most active. This cull is not a recreational hunting opportunity, staff stressed. “It is a resource management intervention designed to reduce a major threat to the continued health of the park.”

These annual culls with Caldwell First Nation have been happening since 2015. On top of keeping the park’s ecosystems healthy, the reduction activity also provides Caldwell First Nation members with the opportunity to mentor youth and strengthen traditional connections to the land while sharing knowledge and expertise with park staff. Caldwell First Nation keeps the meat and hides from the deer, using them for personal, community, and ceremonial purposes.

Hunting the deer has proved effective and more efficient than relocating them, Parks Canada said. “Trapping and relocating deer has been investigated by the park and by other sites in Ontario. Unfortunately, this method does not offer a long-term solution to the problem because of a lack of other available habitats to put deer, very high costs, as well as low survival rates as a result of relocation efforts.”

Point Pelee will reopen to the public on January 21.

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Cottage Life

Cut energy costs by switching to solar—our get-started kit will get you off the grid

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If you’re a cottager, you know that keeping your property running can be expensive. Solar power is a great way to reduce your energy costs, and there are several ways cottagers can switch to solar.

Not only is solar power the fastest-growing energy source, its efficiency has increased 20 to 25 per cent in just the last decade. In the same period of time, the price has reduced by 80 per cent. More solar products are released to the market each year in the form of watches, water heaters, and more.

Solar panels

Solar panels are a great way to generate your own power. They are made up of photovoltaic (PV) cells, which convert sunlight into electricity. They can be installed on your roof or in your yard, and they can be used to power your entire cottage. It’s worth noting that the efficiency of solar panels is always improving.

There are a few things cottagers need to keep in mind when switching to solar. First, you’ll need to install solar panels on your property. Solar panels can be installed on your roof or in your yard. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, so you can find the right ones for your needs.

Once you have solar panels installed, you’ll need to connect them to an inverter. The inverter converts the electricity from the solar panels into a form that can be used in your home. You’ll also need to connect the solar panels to the electrical grid. This allows you to sell any excess electricity you generate back to the utility company.

Consider these factors before investing in solar panels:

  • The size of your cottage
  • The type of solar panels that fit your property
  • Tax credits and rebates that are available

The average solar panel payback period in Canada is about 8–16 years, depending on which province you live in.

Solar-powered generators

Solar generators are a type of system that uses a battery to store energy. They are perfect for cottagers who want to generate their own energy, but don’t want to install solar panels. Solar-powered generators can be used to power your entire cottage, or you can use them to charge batteries.

Solar-powered generators are useful for a variety of reasons, including:

  • Reducing your dependence on the grid
  • Providing back-up power in case of emergencies
  • Charging your electronic devices or kitchen appliances, such as your fridge
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Portable solar panels

A portable solar panel can be moved from one place to another. It is ideal for people who want to generate their own power but don’t want to install solar panels on their roofs.

Portable solar panels are foldable and easy to transport, and they can be used to power your gadgets and appliances while you’re camping or at the cottage.

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Solar power banks

Solar power banks are made up of solar panels and a battery bank, and they can be used to power your gadgets. They’re ideal for charging:

  • Laptops
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  • Cameras
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Cottage Life

Muskoka Lakes looks to strengthen Dark Sky bylaw

Photo by Shutterstock/Pozdeyev Vitaly

The Township of Muskoka Lakes is updating its Dark Sky bylaw in an effort to strengthen it and is asking the public to provide input.

According to the municipality, its current Dark Sky bylaw, which was enacted in 2014, has posed enforcement challenges and confusion among residents.

“As far as the old bylaw is concerned, there are a lot of sections that are more aptly worded…like a policy statement, rather than an actual bylaw statement,” says Rob Kennedy, Muskoka Lakes’ chief municipal law enforcement officer.

That’s why one of the proposed changes to the bylaw is stronger language. “If you look at the new bylaw, you see a lot of ‘no person shall’ in the sections. The whole ‘no person shall’ creates that prohibition,” Kennedy says. Whereas in the current version of the bylaw, the wording leans more toward recommendations and preferences.

“We can’t enforce something that says recommended or preferred,” Kennedy adds.

The municipality introduced the bylaw as a way of protecting and preserving the area’s environment, especially over Torrance Barrens Reserve, a conservation area at the southern end of Muskoka Lakes.

“Some animals only come out at night, and they feed at night. If people have a whole bunch of lights out shining, then it screws up their vision,” Kennedy says.

Lack of light pollution also ensures a star-filled sky for residents.

Under the current bylaw, any resident within the township installing outdoor lighting must use shielded, full-cut-off fixtures. These are fixtures with a cover over the top that causes the light to point downwards. These types of fixtures are mandatory regardless of whether the outdoor lighting is installed on a cottage, garage, boathouse, bunky, or even private walkway.

Searchlights, strobe lights, and lit-up advertising signs are also major no-nos in the community. Property owners have until January 1, 2024, to transition all outdoor lighting to these types of fixtures. Indoor lighting is exempt.

Residents are still allowed to decorate their properties with non-cut-off lights for holidays, such as Christmas. But under the updated bylaw, these lights, along with all exterior architectural lighting, will have to be shut off between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

If the new bylaw is passed, the maximum fine for disobeying the Dark Sky bylaw could be as high as $50,000. Though it’s unlikely bylaw officers would distribute a fine that high, Kennedy says.

“We enforce the Dark Sky bylaw mainly on complaint unless we see something egregious while dealing with something else,” he says. “Typically when we find the contravention we will send a notice to the owner giving them a time frame to change their fixtures to be compliant with the bylaw and if they fail to do that then charges could be laid.”

The fine for failing to comply would more likely range between $300 to $500. To Kennedy’s knowledge, very few people have been charged under the Dark Sky bylaw since its introduction.

To provide input on the proposed Dark Sky bylaw draft, visit www.engagemuskokalakes.ca. The public has until October 30 to provide feedback.

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Cottage Life

Plastic producers launch lawsuit to reverse Canada’s ban on single-use plastics

Photo by Shutterstock/Mr.anaked

Thirty-three plastic-producing companies have banded together to fight the Canadian government’s decision to ban certain single-use plastics. On July 15, the group, known as the Responsible Plastic Use Coalition (RPUC), filed a lawsuit against the Canadian government, asking the federal courts to repeal the ban.

Canada’s Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos published the ban’s final regulations in June. The regulations target checkout bags, cutlery, takeout containers, stir sticks, straws, and six-pack rings.

Starting December 2022, manufacturing and importing these plastics will be banned. Businesses will have until December 2023 to deplete their stocks. After that, it will be prohibited to sell the items. And the government has said it will ban the exporting of these plastics by the end of 2025.

What RPUC takes issue with is that under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) plastic pollution is now considered “toxic”.

“The federal government designated all plastic manufactured items as toxic, a designation we believe is not only inaccurate but could have far-reaching and unintended consequences. Canadians rely on plastic to sustain everyday life—from eyeglasses to diapers, to water piping, to computers, phones, and baby bottles,” the coalition wrote on its website. “We believe there are far more impactful policy solutions to divert waste from our natural environment.”

RPUC did not respond to comment when asked to elaborate on its alternative policy solutions.

When asked about the lawsuit by Cottage Life, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said over email: “Recently, a group of plastic companies filed another lawsuit against the Government of Canada, this time to try and stop the government’s ban on harmful single-use plastics. That’s their choice. Our choice is to stay focused on fighting plastic pollution and on fighting for our environment. And we’re confident the courts will agree with our position.”

The decision to label plastic pollution as toxic came after the government published a scientific assessment in 2020, concluding that “the improper management of plastic waste has led to plastics becoming ubiquitous in all major compartments of the environment.”

The assessment went on to say that plastic pollution has been detected on shorelines, and in surface waters, sediment, groundwater, soil, indoor and outdoor air, food, and drinking water. Approximately one per cent of plastic waste enters the environment each year. That was the equivalent of 29,000 tonnes of plastic in 2016. And since plastic degrades slowly, the amount of plastic pollution found in the environment increases over time.

This poses a serious risk to animals that ingest or become entangled in the plastic, often dying as a result. Ingestion can also impact the health of humans.

According to the federal government, 15 billion plastic checkout bags are used every year and approximately 16 million straws are used daily. By introducing a ban on these items, the government estimates that over the next decade it will eliminate 1.3 million tonnes of hard-to-recycle plastic waste and 22,000 tonnes of plastic pollution.

This is a step in the right direction, but more work needs to be done, said Karen Wirsig, the plastics program manager for the environmental advocacy group Environmental Defence, in a statement.

“Banning these plastics is the most effective way to solve the problem. Leading countries on every continent are implementing bans on plastics, so it’s good to see Canada keeping its promise to roll out bans here. But this is only the first of many steps the government must take to reach its goal of zero plastic waste by 2030. We’ll be looking for additional bans to address more single-use plastics that continue to plague the environment, as well as measures to ensure reuse and refill options are widely available,” she said.

Wirsig also commented on RPUC’s lawsuit, claiming that Environmental Defence was appalled by the coalition’s actions. “The plastics industry insists that better waste collection and recycling are the answer but after years of failed recycling efforts, it’s never been more obvious that plastic pollution is not a waste management problem. These bans are the first clear sign that making and using less plastic is not only possible, but doable and necessary.”