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

Gatineau River

A global movement is granting rivers legal personhood. Could the Gatineau River be next?

A global movement is granting rivers legal personhood. Could the Gatineau River be next?

A global movement to grant rivers legal personhood recently reached Canada, and a local Indigenous leader is asking whether the Gatineau River could be next. Former Kitigan Zibi Anishinābeg chief Gilbert Whiteduck said such legal designation would provide the Gatineau River better environmental protection, and he's "pushing" to make it a reality. The movement, which is largely led by Indigenous communities, environmental groups and scientists, is designed to afford rivers and other ecological features stronger legal protections by granting them rights normally reserved for people.

Low Gatineau River water levels leave some out to dry

Low Gatineau River water levels leave some out to dry

People who live and play along the Gatineau River between Chelsea and Low, Que., say they've been left high and dry after Hydro-Québec lowered water levels. The change was needed to work on the hydroelectric dam in Chelsea — with rocks now emerging from the river like miniature islands. Heather Horak relies on the river for her seasonal home's water and hauls essential supplies using a pontoon boat.

Canoodling Canada's original highways

Canoodling Canada's original highways

On the rack in the backyard, the little red canoe is withdrawn, overturned and not liking it, and the crest of snow on the canvas is visible along the tumblehome. It yearns for open water now closing in on this writer. Back in 2007, after much input from listeners and a panel of judges, the CBC Radio show Sounds Like Canada picked the canoe as one of the country's seven wonders. One of those judges was Roy MacGregor. “It may have been the promise of a railroad to the Pacific that made Canada whole,” writes Roy in his book, Original Highways: Travelling the Great Rivers of Canada, "but it was rivers that carried the people west and made that railroad necessary.”

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