Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

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.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

Algoma University

Academics call for crackdown on Ontario steel mill pollution

Academics call for crackdown on Ontario steel mill pollution

More than three dozen professors at an Ontario university are calling on the federal and provincial governments to act in response to reporting published by Canada’s National Observer. The open letter from Algoma University faculty, addressed to MP Terry Sheehan and MPP Ross Romano and published on SooToday.com, urges the representatives for Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., to regulate emissions of cancer-causing pollution from the Algoma Steel mill. Recent reporting has revealed that those emissions, which well exceed provincial standards, are even higher than previously thought. Instead of requiring Algoma Steel to take immediate steps to reduce carcinogenic emissions, Ontario has allowed the company to apply for even greater exemptions, so long as some effort is being made to reduce emissions. The plant has been releasing benzo(a)pyrene at 400 times the provincial standard, and is applying for exemptions of 530 times the standard. It’s also been releasing benzene at almost five times the provincial standard, and is now applying for an exemption that’s almost nine times the standard.

Water, water everywhere in Algoma U research project

Water, water everywhere in Algoma U research project

What does water mean to you? Researchers from Algoma University’s School of Business and Economics, in conjunction with Water Wise want to know. The groups are conducting community-based action research on Blue Economy and Freshwater Entrepreneurship that focuses on the economic development surrounding the nexus of the upper Great Lakes (Lake Superior, Lake Huron, and St. Mary’s River). The team is currently gathering this information through a survey called Blue Economy and Freshwater Entrepreneurship Survey, 2022, which will "recognize the challenges and opportunities to a sustainable Blue Economy," a press release issued by the university today states.

Sault Ste. Marie makes bid for Canada Water Agency

Sault Ste. Marie makes bid for Canada Water Agency

Sault Ste. Marie wants to be the home for a new federal government agency that could create at least 100 full-time jobs in the community. The city is making the case that it would be the ideal location for the new Canada Water Agency, which would improve freshwater management across the country. Kathleen Heymans, the city's business development manager, said the agency would expand on existing expertise built around freshwater management in Sault Ste. Marie.

Sault vying to host Canada's water agency

Sault vying to host Canada's water agency

The push is on to bring a yet-to-be formed Canada Water Agency to Sault Ste Marie. The agency was first identified during the Liberal government's previous mandate. City councillor Corey Gardi and Mayor Christian Provenzano are spearheading the effort. "Coun. Gardi and I have been working to lobby the federal government to locate that new agency here in Sault Ste Marie," said Provenzano. "We think there are a lot of natural qualities of the community that make it amenable to that type of agency and we think it would be a great fit."

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