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

Bee Moonias

Former Neskantaga contractor accused of cutting corners in other First Nations

Former Neskantaga contractor accused of cutting corners in other First Nations

“They cut corners every day, every day,” said Justin Gee, vice-president of First Nations Engineering Services Ltd. Gee said he encountered these recurring problems while overseeing the work of a construction firm, Kingdom Construction Limited (KCL), building a water treatment plant 10 years ago in Wasauksing First Nation, along the eastern shore of Georgian Bay, about 250 kilometres north of Toronto. “You have to be on them every step of the way,” said Gee, who was the contract administrator on the project. “You can’t leave them on their own.”

Bee Moonias on life without clean drinking water

Bee Moonias on life without clean drinking water

When you live your whole life without tap water that’s safe to drink, it can start to feel like you’re invisible. That’s how nine-year-old Bedahbun Moonias from Neskantaga First Nation in northern Ontario put it. “Sometimes, I feel like we don't exist,” she said. “Like we're just ghosts and we're just put in a drawer, in a box. We’re suffering in that box with no clean water.” Bedahbun, who goes by the name Bee, lives in a community with a boil water advisory, which means her tap water has to be boiled before it’s safe to drink.

Stuck in a hotel during a Christmas pandemic, Neskantaga members wait for water crisis to end

Stuck in a hotel during a Christmas pandemic, Neskantaga members wait for water crisis to end

"This investigation is going to open a can of worms," Quisess said. "We want Canadians to know the full story. We want Canadians to know how the tax dollars are used." Neskantaga's plant was built in 1993 and has never adequately treated and disinfected water. A long-term drinking water advisory was put in place on Feb. 1, 1995, less than two years after the plant was commissioned. It's been in effect ever since.

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