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.
"These chemicals don't get bound up by soils and in the bottom of lakes and oceans. They stay in the water. That means they circulate around, and it also means that these chemicals get into our drinking water," Diamond told CTVNews.ca in an interview earlier this year. The federal government is looking into how to regulate the chemicals, considering an approach of putting PFAS into new classes, different from the individual classification now.
The Canadian and Alberta governments will establish a federal-provincial working group to accelerate remediation of oil sands tailings ponds, the Alberta government said on Wednesday, as investigations continue into an ongoing tailings leak at Imperial Oil's Kearl project. Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault and Alberta Environment Minister Sonya Savage met on Tuesday to discuss the incident at the 240,000 barrel-per-day Kearl mining project in northern Alberta.
The Canadian government is facing new calls to stop violating the rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people as UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples Francisco Calí Tzay kicks off his 10-day visit to Canada. Calí Tzay and his delegation will tour Canada from March 1 to March 10. The Special Rapporteur’s mandate includes reporting on the human rights situation of Indigenous Peoples worldwide and addressing specific alleged cases of violations of Indigenous rights.
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra committed $12.5 million in funding Wednesday to launch the Ballast Water Innovation Program aimed at keeping invasive species out of the Great Lakes. “This is done under the Oceans Protection Plan which has been the largest investment that Canada has ever made in protecting our oceans and waterways,” Alghabra said.
In the unassuming heart of Stratford, in between an oil change shop and a grocery store, a Canadian milestone is taking shape. Canada’s first lunar rover is being designed and built by Canadensys Aerospace – specifically at the Stratford prototyping facility located at the former Samsonite Canada site on Ontario Street. Peter Visscher, general manager of the facility, introduced StratfordToday to a prototype of the lunar rover, affectionately known as SCAMP. Standing for Small Canadian All-terrain Mobility Platform – the ‘t’ is small – SCAMP is being designed for a lunar mission planned for 2026.
Leaders from an Oji-Cree First Nation in Treaty 9 in Ontario say they want the Canadian government to take action to properly compensate all their community members enduring a long-term boil-water advisory, after learning most of them won't be eligible for a class action settlement. In December 2021, Canada's Federal Court and Manitoba's Court of Queen's Bench jointly approved an $8-billion settlement for First Nations living under drinking-water advisories lasting longer than one year.
First Nations Chiefs, community members, and representatives came together with federal bureaucrats at the Ontario Joint Gathering hosted by Indigenous Services Canada in Toronto on Oct. 25 and 26. The two-day gathering at the Chelsea Hotel in Toronto was an opportunity to strengthen relationships between the Canadian government and First Nations governments, with a series of Federal and First Nations speakers reporting to delegates. Over 45 participants registered over the two days, with 100 attending virtually.
The Canadian government has initiated talks with the government towards the construction of a water supply system for the Esiama community and its environs in the Western Region. Dubbed "Esiama project," it is expected to improve potable water supply in the catchment area thereby enhance the livelihood of the residents as well as meet the health and sanitation needs of the people. This came to light yesterday when the Canadian Ambassador to Ghana,Kati Csabapaid a courtesy call on the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR), Ms Cecilia AbenaDapaah.
The Canadian government has offered up to $100 million to help global Australian mining giant BHP create the "world's most sustainable potash mine" in rural Saskatchewan. BHP's Jansen mine project, located about 140 kilometres east of Saskatoon, is currently in development and is expected to be operational by 2027. It's planned to be the largest potash producing mine in the world,. Canadian officials are putting the money forward to help the company reduce the mine's carbon footprint and invest in more environmentally friendly technology.
This story was originally published by Grist. You can subscribe to its weekly newsletter here. For years, First Nations in Canada have been denied access to clean drinking water. Many Indigenous communities have to deal with brown, sludgy water and the destructive health impacts it brought. Some have spent years relying on boiled or bottled water. As of March 8, 2022, there were 23 short-term drinking water advisories in place across the country, that range from boil water advisories to Do Not Consume notices. Now, the Canadian government will have to pay for it.
An investigation into water quality in the Village of Pemberton’s (VOP) wells has revealed manganese and iron levels that exceed the new standards set by the Canadian government in 2019. The elevated levels were first discussed at the Pemberton council table in June 2021. While they aren’t something to be alarmed about, according to the VOP’s manager of operations and projects Tom Csima, plans are in the works for a new water treatment plant that would bring the levels back to normal range through filtration and oxidation of chlorine injection into the water.
The deadline has been extended for livestock producers wanting to apply to the Farm and Ranch Water Infrastructure Program. The announcement for the temporary enhanced funding came Tuesday from the Canadian and Saskatchewan governments. In a release, the provincial government acknowledged that producers have experienced difficulties in sourcing materials and contractors to build water development projects following 2021’s drought conditions. The program is now adjusted to allow producers who plan to claim more than $50,000 in rebates to submit a preliminary application by Mar. 31, 2022 in order to complete their projects.
It’s Tuesday, January 5, and Canada is spending billions on clean drinking water for First Nations communities. Tens of thousands of Indigenous people in Canada have spent decades without reliable access to clean drinking water. Now, the Canadian government has plans to put it right. A court-approved settlement released late last month commits Canada to spending more than $4 billion on improvements to drinking water infrastructure at hundreds of Indigenous reserves throughout the country. Another $1.18 billion will be provided in damages to some 140,000 First Nations people who have lived under drinking water advisories for longer than a year, often under orders to boil water to avoid potential contamination from bacteria like E. coli.
Bipartisan Michigan lawmakers are pressing President Joe Biden to talk to the Canadian government about stopping the proposal for a permanent repository for radioactive waste near Lake Huron. U.S. Reps. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township; Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township; and Peter Meijer, R-Grand Rapids Township, spoke out ahead of Biden's recent meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, expressing their opposition to the plans.
U.S. Senator Jon Tester is calling on the U.S. State Department to get involved in the ongoing effort to stem the flow of pollution from Canadian mines to waterways in Northwest Montana. In a letter, Tester urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken to request a referral to the International Joint Commission (IJC) concerning the selenium contamination issue in the Kootenai watershed in Montana, and for the State Department to engage with the Canadian government and the IJC to resolve this critical transboundary water quality issue.
The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing more than $2.5 million to help farmers improve water quality and soil health in the Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair watersheds. Investments increase environmental sustainability and productivity The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing more than $2.5 million to help farmers improve water quality and soil health in the Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair watersheds. Through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership (the Partnership), the Lake Erie Agriculture Demonstrating Sustainability (LEADS) initiative will support 220 farmer-led, regionally targeted cost-share projects to help farmers improve soil health and reduce the risk of nutrient losses on their farms located in the Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair watersheds.
Lately, my home community has been on my mind as I recently read reports that the Canadian government had missed its own deadline to end all boil-water advisories on First Nations reserves. I imagined the extra pandemic risks that came with a lack of clean, safe water. I wanted to find out if there was anything being done about this clear violation of basic human rights.
A Thompson Rivers University law professor and her former students are at the centre of a legal battle with the Canadian government over redacted information detailing its involvement in alleged human rights abuses in Guatemala. After six years — during which time students who worked on the case have since graduated — online hearings are now underway.
Tataskweyak Cree Nation (TCN) is one of more than 55 First Nation communities in Canada under a long-term boil water advisory and has been for the last four years. On Thursday, the First Nation’s Chief and NDP MP Niki Ashton called on Ottawa to restore clean drinking water. TCN has said the Canadian government has failed to deliver on the promise of clean drinking water for their community. “We can no longer ignore it anymore. We have to fight for our people," said TCN Chief Doreen Spence. "We matter like all other Canadians." Spence said they are left with no choice but to bring the issue – a basic human right – to the United Nations.
