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.
A Calgary research facility that developed the most comprehensive wastewater monitoring program in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic is setting its sights on another burgeoning public health issue: illicit drug use. Advancing Canada Water Assets (ACWA), a joint initiative between the City of Calgary and the University of Calgary, is applying the same techniques it used to monitor COVID-19 case numbers to track illicit drugs in the province's wastewater.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, phrases like, “Wash your hands,” and, “Make sure you isolate” became mainstream. But how do you wash your hands if you don’t have clean running water? How do you isolate when living spaces are overcrowded? With both of these tasks becoming impossible during COVID, Faculty of Arts student Jessica Lardeur, under the guidance of Dr. Cora Voyageur, PhD, professor in the Department of Sociology, decided to focus her honour’s thesis on the impact that COVID-19 has had on Indigenous communities and how they have adapted to the situation under ominous conditions. “COVID-19 impacted everyone around the world, but it severely impacted Indigenous communities,” says Lardeur.
Organizers of Rock the Park have requested the city provide free water at the weekend music festival after being criticized for only offering water bottles that attendees had to buy. City spokesperson Patti McKague said the request was made Monday and the city has obliged. The four-day music festival takes place July 13 to 17 in Harris Park after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, CBC News reported that a 72-year-old volunteer quit in disgust after learning that the only source of water would be bottled water sold at $5 apiece.
For the fourth year, Plains Midstream Canada has supported the St. Clair Region Conservation Authority’s (SCRCA) Spring Water Awareness Program (SWAP) with a $5,000 donation. Held throughout the month of April, the program teaches students about the hazards of spring floodwaters. “Through our annual Spring Water Awareness Program, we talk with students about the potentially dangerous conditions associated with streams and rivers during the spring, and provide them with safety guidelines,” stated Melissa Levi, Conservation Education Coordinator at the SCRCA, in a media release.
Council will discuss progress on year one of the City’s water meter replacement program when a report detailing the total cost and amount of water leakage is presented at Tuesday’s executive committee meeting. The water meter replacement program began in March of 2019 and was completed in July of 2020, replacing a total of 11,332 meters around Prince Albert. The total cost of the project amounted to $4,603,563.20, landing more than $3,500 under budget. The report found that the new meters more accurately read the actual water used, reducing water loss in the City.
The New Brunswick government plans to open a public health laboratory in Moncton by 2024 at a cost of about $10 million. Health Minister Dorothy Shephard announced the plan Wednesday morning with work expected to begin this fall. "The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the need for New Brunswick to have its own provincial public health laboratory to ensure a dedicated public health response," Shephard said.
A tap in the basement of Winnipeg City Hall has been deliberately left running for nearly as long as the COVID-19 pandemic has lasted in Manitoba. Coun. Shawn Nason (Transcona) raised the issue of the flowing faucet at Thursday's council meeting, saying it has poured the equivalent of three Olympic-sized swimming pools down the drain. "If a 50-year-old building requires taps to be on 24 hours a day, we have some serious issues," Nason told reporters after the city council meeting.
For Iqaluit youths Joseph Ashoona and Deion Pearce, the recent suicide of a beloved friend in their hockey community was their breaking point. “This is enough, we’re drawing the line here,” Pearce said in a joint video interview with CTVNews.ca Wednesday. “We’ve lost too many friends, close friends [and] family members.” The COVID-19 pandemic, the recent water crisis in Iqaluit and the decades-long housing, health and mental health crises are all factors contributing to Nunavut’s ongoing suicide epidemic.
The use of disposable face masks as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to more microplastics in waterways, a recent study from Canadian researchers has found. Microplastics are tiny plastic particles that are less than 5 millimetres long and are created through the degradation of discarded plastic-containing products. These particles have been observed polluting various natural ecosystems, particularly aquatic environments.
Lack of access to safe water is not just a so-called Third World problem. In fact, many First Nations communities in Canada do not have access to safe water. Is Canada failing Indigenous communities when it comes to SDG 6? “I guess it’s more of personal opinion, but yes, I feel there is a long way to go in Canada to achieve SDG 6,” Julie Truelove, head of program development and advocacy at WaterAid Canada, replied. And she emphasized that the SDGs apply to every country in the world, including Canada.
Performance in TSM is evaluated across a set of detailed environmental and social performance standards, including climate change, tailings management, water stewardship, Indigenous and community relationships, safety and health, biodiversity conservation, crisis management and preventing child and forced labour. TSM helps drive performance improvement where it counts — at the site level — and contributes to securing support for our activities from the communities where we operate.
Investments in local infrastructure by the governments of Canada and Manitoba during this extraordinary time stimulate the economy and address the needs of communities as they recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Investments in modern and reliable water and waste-water infrastructure foster healthy and resilient communities, protect the environment, and support sustainable development and growth.
This past November marked 25 years since Neskantaga First Nation, located in Northwestern Ontario, was placed on a boil water advisory. In October 2020, over 250 Neskantaga residents were evacuated and transferred to a hotel in Thunder Bay after “an oily sheen was found in the Neskantaga water reservoir;” “high levels of hydrocarbons” were discovered in the water after testing. Residents were able to return after two months, but the boil water advisory remains. Chief Chris Moonias has called upon Ontario Premier Doug Ford to support Neskantaga First Nation in securing clean drinking water and properly trained water operators – Ford has yet to respond. Ending all boil-water advisories in Canada can no longer be delayed; Ford must act in accordance with the concerns of the Neskantaga First Nation immediately.
The water system expansion project will convert a test well into a production well in the new East Memramcook region. This will expand the capacity and the sustainability of the system and benefit the community by increasing access to potable water. The project will also provide water to residences that are currently not serviced. A booster station and a water storage tank will also be constructed in order to provide sufficient water pressure to residents. This expansion will also provide a secure water source for an additional 175 users.
Activists in northeastern Ontario fighting for safe, clean water in First Nations communities across Canada are getting tired of broken promises. After five years and millions in spending, the Liberal government announced in early December that it would not fulfill its commitment to end all long-term water advisories on reserves by March 2021. Although some progress has been made – 97 advisories have been lifted since November 2015 – there’s still a long way to go. There are 59 active long-term water advisories in 41 communities across the country, and activists maintain that clean water should be a priority for the federal government, especially during a global pandemic. “Water is a basic human right, and nobody should have to beg for it. This is wrong, and it’s come to the point where I think it comes down to racism,” said Autumn Peltier, a teenage water-rights activist from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island.
The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation is expanding its water system to deliver clean drinking water to hundreds of residents who have been grappling for more than a decade with seven drinking water advisories. The Bay of Quinte is on Lake Ontario and the First Nation is not remote or isolated. It’s just off Ontario’s Highway 401, between Toronto and Montreal. Chief R. Donald Maracle said his community has suffered from a lack of safe water since 2008, due to fecal, bacterial and algae contaminations. A regional drought made many groundwater wells go completely dry in 2017.
Batchewana First Nation members have received some welcome news. It was announced this past week that a ground-breaking ceremony was staged for a water treatment plant expected to be fully functional on the First Nation in northern Ontario by the end of 2021. “They’re happy,” Chief Dean Sayers said of the Batchewana First Nation members who will have access to clean drinking water in their homes.
She was surprised to find out her home had a public lead service line (LSL) delivering water from the city’s water mains — especially because she was pregnant while living there. “I freaked out,” Cohen says. “I called the city immediately, and I think they actually told me that they weren’t even sure if they could check our pipes, because I think it was the end of their cycle.”
Canada is one of the wealthiest and most water-rich countries in the world. Yet many of its First Nations communities continue to lack safe drinking water — a basic human right. As of February, 61 Indigenous reserves were under long-term drinking water advisories, half of which remain unresolved after more than a decade. These water advisories warn people to either boil water before use, not to consume it, or avoid it altogether because of toxicity levels.
