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.
Karim said the company charged him "egregiously incorrectly" as if he used all 124,000 litres — enough to fill a mid-sized in-ground pool — in one month. As a result, he said Alectra was applying a higher "Block 2" rate for most of it and overcharging him by almost $200, "which for me is the difference between food and water," he said. When Karim explained the discrepancy to Alectra, he said they agreed they'd incorrectly billed him.
Hamilton city councillors say Alectra Utilities has blindsided them after the massive utility says it's too busy to continue delivering local water bills. The utility, which formed in 2017 when Horizon Utilities merged with four others, says it has too large an area to cover and too much to do to keep handling water billing, city staff said last week. So, even though Hamilton will pay Alectra $5.6 million this year to deliver water bills, Alectra says it can't do it after the contract expires in December 2024.
