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.
Baljot Rai arrived carrying his project sign, covered with signatures of other students he met at the fair. Rai was selected as a finalist for the Canadian Stockholm Junior Water Prize for his work using zebra mussel shells to absorb phospherous in water. He and two other students from CWSF will submit reports on their projects, and the winner will compete for the Stockholm Junior Water Prize in Sweden in August 2023.
