Water Canada | Category Archives

Living Lakes Canada Gathering: Day Two

Posted on May 24, 2012
Written by Kerry Freek

Beginning and ending with strong messages regarding the recent announcement that will see the closure of the Experimental Lakes Area--an institution that Dr. John P. Smol of Queen's University recently called "the best known freshwater research facility in the world,"--Wednesday was a long and exciting day at the Living Lakes Canada Gathering in Winnipeg. Manitoba's Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh opened the morning's proceedings with a strong call to action, saying that while he supports eliminating redundant processes, any federal efforts [...]

Living Lakes Canada Gathering: Day One

Posted on May 22, 2012
Written by Kerry Freek

Amid challenging times for federal programs and local initiatives, this afternoon's doom and gloom factor was noticeable. Opening Living Lakes Canada's members-only meeting, Global Nature Fund's executive director Udo Gattenlöhner discussed Canada's presence (or lack thereof) on the world stage. With such abundant resources, Canada should be a role model for the world, he said. "I thought Canada was an environmental paradise," he admitted. "I was astonished to learn that problems we have in Europe are possible in Canada. Destruction of wetlands, eutrophication--how [...]

Slash and Burn

Posted on May 18, 2012
Written by Kerry Freek

It's another sad week for federal employees and Canadian science. Yesterday, more than 1,000 Fisheries and Oceans Canada employees received notice that their jobs could be affected by impending cuts. "These are radical changes," Jeannie Baldwin of Public Service Alliance of Canada in Halifax told the CBC. "It only benefits the politicians, because it doesn't benefit the public, it doesn't benefit the work and it doesn't benefit the fishery habitat that we so proudly protect and conserve." As part of the same cuts, the public learned that the Ontario-based [...]

How Do You Envision a Friendly, Accessible Waterfront?

Posted on May 16, 2012
Written by Kerry Freek

As part of our January/February 2012 issue, we offered Water Canada readers the chance to win a copy of Reshaping Toronto’s Waterfront (University of Toronto Press). We asked: how do you envision a friendly, accessible waterfront? One of our winners, Ian D. Robertson of Whitehorse, YK, provided such a thoughtful, detailed response that, with his permission, we wanted to share with you. Below is the text. -- I think the answer to your question is to take a holistic view and create a simple compelling vision that acknowledges the different spatial [...]

Spring Cleaning

Posted on May 1, 2012
Written by Kerry Freek

With our May/June 2012 issue sent to the press, this afternoon I set to work cleaning my disaster of a desk and unearthed this gem from Water Canada's publisher, who is a big fan of press clippings (evidence). In case you can't read it, Todd's writing reads: "Why isn't the mayor drinking Toronto tap water?" An arrow points to the water cooler that occupies Rob Ford's office. Good question, Todd. When I posted the snapshot to our @CanadianWater Twitter account, a few of our followers were quick to respond. "Why aren't all mayors? HUGE PROBLEM!" tweeted [...]

Making Water Utilities More Energy Efficient

Posted on May 1, 2012
Written by Kerry Freek

How can water utilities use energy more efficiently? I was pleased to investigate the finer details of the water-energy nexus--right down to microbubbles--for the Canadian Water and Wastewater Association's bi-annual publication, the Canadian Municipal Water News & Review. PDF: Electricity Usage for Utilities Comes Down to One Word: Efficiency by Kerry Freek Water Canada is a proud member of the CWWA. [...]

	Pitching In Posted on April 30, 2012 Written by Kerry Freek Everything but the kitchen sink? Wait--we definitely found one of those, not to mention a few tires and some rusty shopping carts. Last Friday, the Water Canada / ReNew Canada team (and friends) spent some quality time cleaning up Toronto's Humber River shore for Pitch-In Canada. What better way to spend a sunny afternoon? [...]
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Blue Bash Success!

Posted on April 27, 2012
Written by Kerry Freek

Last Wednesday, Water Canada hosted The Blue Bash, a party at Toronto’s historic Steam Whistle Roundhouse to raise funds and awareness for WaterCan’s Kilimanjaro Climb for Life effort. In October, I'll be part of a team of 15-20 people who will scale Mt. Kilimanjaro to support WaterCan’s projects. We’ll also visit several project sites to learn more about WaterCan’s good work. The Blue Bash featured special guests Alex and Tyler Mifflin of TVO’s The Water Brothers, plus live DJs, dancing, and raffle prizes. All proceeds supported the charity’s [...]

Poop: The 4-Letter Word Nobody's Talking About

Posted on April 18, 2012
Written by Kerry Freek

Here at Water Canada, dealing with poop (that is, water, wastewater, and sanitation) is right up our alley. So when @ohtinytony shared his human waste infographic, I had to share it with Water Canada's readers. It really helps to put the global water and sanitation crisis into perspective. Graphics like this one make me proud to support WaterCan's good work. This coming October, I'll be part of WaterCan's Kilimanjaro Climb for Life team--our goal is to raise over $100,000 for the charity's work to bring clean, safe water and sanitation to developing communities [...]

Salki on Storage

Posted on April 15, 2012
Written by Kerry Freek

The Water Canada team spent last week in Banff at the fifth annual Water Technologies Symposium. Thursday's keynote speaker, Lake Winnipeg Foundation's Alex Salki, took some time to chat with me about Manitoba's developing surface water strategy. We also chatted about one of the possible solutions to increasingly extreme flood and drought situations due to Manitoba's variable climate issues. See a quick clip below. Watch for the full interview online in the coming weeks, plus more on flooding in the prairies in the May/June issue of Water Canada. [...]