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Canada dumps billions of litres of raw sewage into natural waterways annually. How can we stop? – CBC.ca
This story is part of Uytae Lee’s Stories About Here, an original series with the CBC Creator Network. You can watch every episode of this series on CBC Gem.
Last summer, three Metro Vancouver beaches were closed to swimmers after high levels of E. coli were detected in the water.
And this is a pretty common occurrence. Almost every year, beaches, lakes, and other water bodies are closed to swimming across Canada because there is fecal matter mixed into the water. Our poop!
So how did that poop get there?
Well, it’s because of something called the combined sewer and stormwater system.
Mixing sewage with stormwater
When you flush your stuff, it flows into a network of sewage pipes that lead to a sewage treatment plant where it is cleaned and treated before the remaining water is dumped into the ocean.
Pretty straightforward right?
But in a combined sewer and stormwater system, sewage isn’t the only thing that goes into those pipes. There’s also stormwater.
In a combined system, rain that hits a hard surface like asphalt, glass or concrete also flows into our sewage system to be cleaned and treated.
And this is where we find the root of this problem: The amount of sewage flowing in a city at any given time is pretty consistent, but the amount of rainwater a city receives fluctuates wildly. So when there’s a bad rainstorm, there ends up being far too much water flowing through our pipes for the sewage treatment plant to handle.
The result? All the excess stormwater and sewage overflows into a nearby body of water, whether it’s a stream, lake, or beach.
Grey and green infrastructure
This combined system has historically been the system of choice for most older cities in North America, which means this is a problem pretty much everywhere.
In 2017, over 167 billion litres of combined sewage and stormwater leaked into water bodies across Canada, in every province except for P.E.I., Newfoundland, and Saskatchewan.
So how do we stop doing that?
Well, there are many different solutions and they roughly fall into two categories: Grey infrastructure and green infrastructure.
“Grey Infrastructure” is a more heavy-duty approach to dealing with excess stormwater. One example is in Tokyo, where the city has constructed enormous underground caves to hold excess liquid during typhoon season.
Another popular solution is to completely separate stormwater and sewage into different pipe networks, so sewage can be taken to sewage treatment plants, while stormwater can just flow out into the ocean.
But these solutions are incredibly complicated, expensive and don’t always work. And that’s where green infrastructure comes in.
Easier being green?
Out in the wild, there are no pipes. When it rains, water is absorbed into the ground or pooled into streams and rivers that flow into lakes and oceans.
“Green infrastructure” is what happens when cities try to mimic that process in an urban area. This includes making green roofs or other permeable spaces that collect and absorb rainwater. It can even be as simple as planting more trees, which are very good at soaking up water.
But this approach isn’t perfect, either. Green infrastructure doesn’t make sense everywhere and the science behind it is admittedly less predictable than simply directing water into a pipe.
What I’ve really come to understand is it will take many different solutions working together to manage our sewage and stormwater.
And I do have hope, that if we keep our eyes on the prize, one day, maybe — just maybe — we’ll finally stop dumping literal sewage into the ocean.
Learn more in Stories About Here: How to Stop Dumping Sewage into the Water
About this series
Stories About Here is an original series with the CBC Creator Network that explores the urban planning challenges that communities across Canada face today. In each episode we dig into the often overlooked issues in our own backyards — whether it’s the shortage of public bathrooms, sewage leaking into the water, or the bureaucratic roots of the housing crisis. Through it all, we hope to inspire people to become better informed and engaged members of their communities.
You can watch every episode of this series on CBC Gem.
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Achieving second place might sound like a disappointment. However, the second place means a lot in the global ranking of countries, and Canada has recently secured that spot.
The 2023 Best Countries rankings by US News & World Report placed Canada in second place. In the rankings, Switzerland won the first place and Sweden in third place.
By taking up the second place, Canada toppled Germany since the country earned the second place last year. Consequently, Australia and the US occupied the fourth and fifth place in the rankings.
The ranking system
US News’ Best Countries ranking system is a yearly ranking of the best countries to live in according to several metrics. The annual ranking originally started in 2015, in which the ranking attempts to “examine a country’s merit beyond hard metrics.”
To determine the ranks, the news outlet consults several prominent institutions. They include the global advertising company WPP and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. US News & World Report uses the former’s BAV brand analytics tool and consults with the latter’s professor David Reibstein. Thus far, the news outlet relies on 73 attributes to describe a country and identify its recent successes.
Subsequently, the news outlet distributed the survey from March 17 to June 12 to 17,000 respondents around the world. The survey includes 87 nations, and the respondents will assess the countries’ merits based on their perceptions.
Other than Canada, the top 10 countries in the ranking come from highly developed countries around the world such as Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, Australia, Japan, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.
Canada exceeded the score of 90 in agility (94.1), quality of life (92.7), and social purpose (93.4). The following scores are entrepreneurship (84.2), open for business (80.1), cultural influence (55.0), adventure (54.5), power (41.9), and heritage (41.6).
Canada concluded its ranking by obtaining a score of 17.8 for the Movers metric with attributes such as differentness, distinctiveness, dynamicity, and uniqueness. Of the four, dynamicity occupies the top ranking with a score of 36.8. Distinctiveness takes second place in 26.3, followed by the measly scores of differentness and uniqueness of 5.0 and 9.3, respectively.
Another thing to consider in the Movers category is the recent issues of surging living costs and housing. As Canada’s housing crunch continues, this might have affected people’s perception of the reality of living in the country.
Canada’s strong scores
There are several reasons why Canada managed to snatch the runner-up position in the 2023 Best Countries rankings. Its global connectivity and decent job market, for instance, almost reached a perfect score with 95.5 and 98.4, respectively, thanks to Canada’s reputation as a highly interconnected country with good job prospects.
According to US News, Canada is a high-tech industrial society with high living standards. After the trade agreements with the US in the 1980s and 1990s, both countries have become each other’s largest trading partners.
In addition, US News also said that Canada owes its economic success to the service sector and export of energy, food, and minerals. With the availability of proven oil reserves, Canada has emerged as the world’s fourth-largest oil producer.
Canada also won the perfect score in the racial equality and religious freedom categories. Thanks to the myriad of ethnic and religious groups in the country, Canada has attained the status of a multicultural society. Despite the post-Christian and secular state of modern Canada, Canada’s multiculturalism allows many religions and beliefs to flourish in the country.
Another reason behind Canada’s high rank in the Best Countries rankings is the near-perfect score of economic stability and hospitality to families. Owing to Canada’s famed reputation as a comfortable country to live in, many people think it’s best to raise families there.
The tourism industry in Canada is also something to behold. Canadian urban and natural tourist spots from British Columbia to Nunavut spoil domestic and foreign tourists with abundant options. Tourists can experience anything from Canada’s natural majesty to urban excellence in any of Canada’s provinces and territories.
The availability of SIM providers such as eSIM United States tourists adds to the convenience of tourists from the US and anywhere else. Various kinds of data plans are also available in Canada, which makes the country a desirable destination for travel aficionados who love to share their journeys online. With these plans, tourists don’t have to worry about internet coverage anymore when they explore Canada.
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India has told Canada to withdraw dozens of diplomatic staff amid heightened tensions between the two nations over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, according to a report published by Financial Times.
People familiar with the matter informed FT that Ottawa has been told by New Delhi that it must repatriate around 40 diplomats by October 10.
Ties between India and Canada have become seriously strained over Canadian suspicion that Indian government agents had a role in the June murder in Canada of a Sikh separatist leader and Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who India had labeled a “terrorist”. India has dismissed the allegation as absurd.
Canada has 62 diplomats in India and India had said that the total should be reduced by 41, the newspaper said.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said earlier there was a “climate of violence” and an “atmosphere of intimidation” against Indian diplomats in Canada, where the presence of Sikh separatist groups has frustrated New Delhi.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration urged the Indian government to cooperate with Canada in its investigations into the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller said, “As he made clear then, I’ll reiterate now, we remain in close coordination with our Canadian colleagues on this question.”
“We have engaged with the Indian government on a number of occasions to urge them to cooperate with Canada’s investigation. The secretary had an opportunity to do that in his meeting with the foreign minister on Friday,” he said.
Currently, the United States is in close coordination with Canada on allegations regarding the Indian government’s involvement in the Nijjar killing row.
India has suspended its visa services in Canada, following Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau’s allegations of Indian involvement in the killing.
India asks Canada to recall several dozen diplomats – Hindustan Times
Canada secures second place in 2023 Best Country Rankings
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