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.
On a clear crisp morning in northern Manitoba, John Henderson III and Drayden Jobb launch a single-engine boat from the Conawapa boat launch in Gilliam into the waters of the Nelson River, to pull the net they set overnight to catch sturgeon. The two young men, both in their 20s, are from the Fox Lake Cree Nation, whose people have been hunting alongside the river and fishing it for generations. "The mighty Nelson," Jobb says as the boat makes its way from shore.
Manitoba Hydro doesn't expect to generate enough electricity this winter to meet its export budget, thanks to months of dry conditions across the Lake Winnipeg watershed. The Crown corporation is trying to hold back as much water as possible to ensure Manitobans have enough electricity this winter. But there won't be enough water flowing through the Nelson River to allow the province to meet its targets for exporting power outside its borders.
