Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Water advocates are demanding the exclusion of local wells in any sale of Nestlé’s North American water bottling portfolio, and instead return them to municipalities. This summer Nestlé announced it is considering the sale of most of its North American water bottling business. The intended sale of the Nestlé Pure Life business to Ice River Springs fell through last month because the transaction did not meet the Competition Bureau’s regulatory approval process.
