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.
Niagara Region may have to revisit its water and wastewater master plan if changes by the province, in the form of Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, leave the municipality short of revenue for new growth-related projects. That’s what a recent report to its public works committee said as councillors examined the nuts of bolts of a planned update to the 2016 master plan last week.
On October 25, 2022, the Government of Ontario introduced Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 This bill touches on many areas of legislation and policy including: a commitment to offset development pressures on wetlands by requiring a net positive impact, a review of the Ontario Wetland Evaluation System (OWES) to find opportunities to remove duplicates and streamline evaluation processes, and changes to the Conservation Authority Act, which would affect how Ontario’s 36 conservation authorities regulate development activities within municipalities, improving consistency in policies and processes which reduce the impacts of flooding and natural hazards
