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

Iqalummiut

Calls mount for public inquiry into Iqaluit water crisis as Nunavut government changes tune

Calls mount for public inquiry into Iqaluit water crisis as Nunavut government changes tune

Calls are mounting in Nunavut for the territorial government to call a public inquiry into the Iqaluit water crisis. The city of nearly 8,000 went for two months without clean tap water last fall after hydrocarbons were detected in the water and ultimately traced to the city's water treatment plant. The do not consume order was lifted in December, after a bypass had been set up at the plant, only to result in a boil water advisory that lasted nine days earlier this month, as residents again reported the smell of fuel in the water.

Iqaluit faced COVID-19, contaminated water and reconciliation in 2021

Iqaluit faced COVID-19, contaminated water and reconciliation in 2021

After about a week of reports in Iqaluit that the city’s water smelled of fuel, and the City of Iqaluit reassuring them it was safe to drink, further testing detected hydrocarbons and led to a two-month state of emergency. As the story developed over two months and national media outlets broadcast clips from Iqaluit, a patchwork system of supports started to materialize. The city and the Government of Nunavut flew bottled water up to the community, monopolizing a big portion of cargo space on incoming flights. Cargo employees worked overtime to offload the large shipments, while volunteers handed it out at pick-up stations and delivered it to homes.

City recreation staff no longer assigned to water emergency

City recreation staff no longer assigned to water emergency

The City of Iqaluit’s recreation staff are back at the Iqaluit Aquatic Centre and the gym is open after they were reassigned on Dec. 1 to help with the water emergency. It remains unclear when the city will make other moves to return to normalcy, following a water emergency that lasted nearly two months, caused by the discovery of diesel fuel in the city’s water system. During that time, Iqalummiut were under a do-not-consume water advisory due to fuel contamination. On Dec. 10, the Government of Nunavut lifted that advisory.

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