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

Canada Water Agency

Canada Water Agency: A new focal point for freshwater protection

Canada Water Agency: A new focal point for freshwater protection

Canada is a water-rich nation responsible for 20 per cent of the global resource. This seemingly limitless bounty is easy to take for granted but, as the very basis of life, freshwater cannot be left behind as we work our way through the challenges of a changing world. In recognition of the need for broader coordination, the Canada Water Agency (CWA) was launched in 2023 as part of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). Based in Winnipeg, Man., the agency will become an independent entity in the coming months with a mandate to modernize and integrate freshwater management in Canada.

Portage-Lisgar candidates answer local questions ahead of election - Liberal Party of Canada's Kerry Smith

Portage-Lisgar candidates answer local questions ahead of election - Liberal Party of Canada's Kerry Smith

If you were to win the election, what would you do to ensure the development of sustainable, additional, water supply and treatment for the region in order to allow for further growth, both from a business/industrial and population perspective? Water is Canada's most precious natural resource, and protecting our region’s water is a high priority for me, and for our Liberal team. We have 20% of the world's freshwater reserves, and water is essential to our well-being and economy.

Trudeau promises to update act around use and development of water in Canada

Trudeau promises to update act around use and development of water in Canada

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is repeating promises to update legislation that governs water use. Trudeau, while formally announcing the Canada Water Agency will be headquartered in Winnipeg, says his government will update the act around the use and development of the resource in Canada. Trudeau didn’t provide details about how the Canada Water Act would change.

Trudeau repeats pledge to establish Canada Water Agency in Winnipeg, but no one can say where it will go

Trudeau repeats pledge to establish Canada Water Agency in Winnipeg, but no one can say where it will go

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday reannounced the new Canada Water Agency, which will protect the country's freshwater supply and be headquartered in Winnipeg. "This province is home to over 100,000 lakes and rivers, with water flowing in from the Rockies and the [United] States, all the way out to Hudson Bay," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday, overlooking the convergence point of two of those rivers — the Assiniboine and Red — at The Forks in Winnipeg.

At last, a federal water agency

At last, a federal water agency

Terry Duguid, Liberal member of Parliament for Winnipeg South, was given the task of turning the notion into reality, a fairly straightforward assignment given the unusual clarity of the promise; at least one would think. Ottawa is spending billions of dollars on water-related programs scattered among more than a dozen departments with co-ordination and common direction lacking for all but a few of these. The guiding policy — federal water policy — was crafted in 1987 and has been a dead letter for at least a couple of decades. An academic study of federal water expenditures conducted in 2020 found it impossible to determine from public records exactly how much Ottawa was spending on water and for what specific purposes.

Shoemaker voices displeasure with federal government decision on Canada Water Agency

Shoemaker voices displeasure with federal government decision on Canada Water Agency

Mayor Matthew Shoemaker said he’s voiced his disappointment with the federal government’s decision not to include Sault Ste. Marie in the new Canada Water Agency. Shoemaker was meeting with federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, during his recent visit to Sault Ste. Marie. Alghabra met with a number of stakeholders from area industries to discuss the federal government’s Green Energy Tax Credit program.

Water matters here

Water matters here

I discovered one obvious reality when I moved to Manitoba in 2001: water is a big, big issue here. And it’s often news. Farm news. Agriculture news. Winnipeg news. Indigenous news. Environmental news. Sometimes it even gets to be national news. Whether it’s floods, droughts, water pollution, drainage, wetlands, sewage plant costs or Canada-U.S. river crossings, water issues are often the most important in the province.

Looks like Sault got a hub snub from Canada Water Agency

Looks like Sault got a hub snub from Canada Water Agency

It’s been nearly one week since local officials learned the federal government chose Winnipeg over Sault Ste. Marie as the host city for the Canada Water Agency (CWA) headquarters. Disappointed by the decision, members of the CWA task force in town remained hopeful the Sault could still have some involvement with the federal agency by hosting a regional hub.

Canada Water Agency to be located in Winnipeg

Canada Water Agency to be located in Winnipeg

If you’re looking to locate ground zero for water issues on a map of Canada, just stick a pin a few kilometres east of Winnipeg. From frequent major flooding on two major rivers to the polluting of the seventh largest freshwater lake in the world, to farmers’ struggles with saturation and drought, to chronic problems with water quality on Indigenous reserves, water is often a top-of-mind issue in the province.

Federal 2023 budget important step for fresh water: WWF-Canada

Federal 2023 budget important step for fresh water: WWF-Canada

WWF-Canada welcomes important investments in the 2023 federal budget to maintain momentum toward protecting and restoring 30 per cent of land and waters by 2030, including a new Canada Water Agency; monitoring, assessing and restoring key freshwater ecosystems; protection of endangered whales and their habitats; and ongoing support for species at risk.

Statement by the Prime Minister on World Water Day

Statement by the Prime Minister on World Water Day

Today, as we join the international community to mark World Water Day, we are reminded of our shared responsibility to protect access to clean, safe water here at home and around the world. There is no resource more essential to Canadians and the Canadian economy than clean water. Water ecosystems, when managed properly, help alleviate hunger, poverty, and illness, fight climate change, and support biodiversity. This year’s World Water Day theme, ‘Accelerating Change’, asks us to speed up our action to keep our water safe, clean, and sustainably managed.

Sault Ste. Marie officially applies to be home of the Canada Water Agency

Sault Ste. Marie officially applies to be home of the Canada Water Agency

This past week, representatives from the Sault officially applied to become the site of the Canada Water Agency. Mayor Matthew Shoemaker said he is confident the city's bid will be successful. “We’re located right here in the middle of the Great Lakes on the gathering place between Lake Huron and Lake Superior and a short drive or short boat ride away in some cases from Lake Michigan,” Shoemaker said. “When you think water in Canada, freshwater specifically, Sault Ste. Marie is at the heart of it all.”

New city council reaffirms interest in Canada Water Agency

New city council reaffirms interest in Canada Water Agency

One of the first actions of our 2022-2026 city council was to toast Sault Ste. Marie's bid to become the home of the new Canada Water Agency. Councillors gave unanimous support Monday night to a resolution from Ward 5 Coun. Corey Gardi and Ward 2's Luke Dufour, confirming that the Sault is still the "superior" choice for the new agency, intended to work with provinces, territories, Indigenous communities, local authorities, scientists, and others to keep Canada's fresh water safe, clean, and well-managed. "We're in the process of arranging for a couple of meetings with members of the federal government," Gardi said. "The task force has really stepped up its work over the course of the last couple of weeks." "It seems that the decision is imminent," Gardi said.

Sault's water agency task force awaits standing committee announcement

Sault's water agency task force awaits standing committee announcement

A task force created to lobby the federal government to establish its Canada Water Agency in Sault Ste. Marie is waiting for word of the establishment of a standing committee. It’s submission is nearly polished and ready to go, pending any new information that comes to light between now and hearing dates, said Ward 5 Coun. Corey Gardi who spearheaded the initiative. “We are awaiting word on the formation of a standing committee and we’ll take our information to that committee, but until then, there’s not a lot to do,” Gardi said. Gardi will be meeting with mayor-elect Matthew Shoemaker in the coming days to discuss the council term ahead. He plans on seeking Shoemaker’s support for the initiative and getting him on board.

Gardi wants Canada Water Agency commitment from mayoral candidates

Gardi wants Canada Water Agency commitment from mayoral candidates

Ward 5 incumbent Corey Gardi is calling on mayoral candidates to support his efforts to get the federal government to establish the Canada Water Agency in Sault Ste. Marie. Gardi, who spearheaded the initiative, is leading a task force that has obtained letters of support from many local and regional organizations, agencies and communities who want to see the proposed agency in Sault Ste. Marie. “The mayor (Christian Provenzano) has taken the time to contribute to the task force, and has joined me in meeting with representatives of the federal government, to keep them apprised of our efforts, and to clearly articulate why the Sault would be an ideal place for the agency.”

Liberals pouring funds into the Great Lakes in the 2022 federal budget

Liberals pouring funds into the Great Lakes in the 2022 federal budget

Canada is back at the binational table with funding in the 2022 federal budget to protect the Great Lakes fishery. Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey said it’s the first time in 40 years the federal government has fully funded the binational treaty organization Great Lakes Fishery Commission. “The fishery contributes $8 billion in economic return each year, the fishery is integral to our culture, and a healthy fishery means a healthy environment,” said Badawey in a release following Thursday’s budget announcement.

Community feedback helps shape Sault Ste. Marie's water agency bid

Community feedback helps shape Sault Ste. Marie's water agency bid

A Sault Ste. Marie task force is releasing the findings of its community consultations that will help shape its bid to become the future home of the Canada Water Agency. Creation of the new federal agency was announced in 2020, with officials saying its goal is to help improve freshwater management in Canada. In Sault Ste. Marie, an official bid to host the agency was launched last year, with the Sault's central location to the Great Lakes as a big selling point.

Canada Water Agency task force releases report based on community feedback

Canada Water Agency task force releases report based on community feedback

The city-led task force responsible for pitching Sault Ste. Marie as the future headquarters for the forthcoming Canada Water Agency has released its findings following a months-long process of community engagement. The report, which is now live on the task force’s website, is the result of 10 in-person and virtual community discussions held between August and December of last year that were facilitated by Lake Huron North Program Coordinator Dr. Elaine Ho-Tassone. More than 200 participants - drawn from local organizations, the Indigenous community, youth and the general public - provided their perspectives for the report.

Mauro hopes to lure federal water agency to Thunder Bay

Mauro hopes to lure federal water agency to Thunder Bay

Mayor Bill Mauro is making a case for Thunder Bay to host a new federal agency designed to put greater focus on protecting and managing Canada’s water resources. Local leaders say Thunder Bay could be a natural fit for the Canada Water Agency, and tout potential economic benefits for the city. There are no clear answers yet, however, on when or how the government will select a home for the organization – and the city will face competition. This week, Mauro advised city council he intended to throw the city’s hat in the ring, saying he had reached out to local MPs for their support. Both said they’ll be happy to comply.

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.

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