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

Lake Michigan

These 3 men are paddle boarding across Lake Ontario to 'stand up' for the Great Lakes

These 3 men are paddle boarding across Lake Ontario to 'stand up' for the Great Lakes

Corey Adkins, 52, communication and content director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, said the crossing will raise awareness of the Great Lakes. He has followed the group and produced documentaries on their work. Problems on the Great Lakes vary from algal blooms to microplastics, he said. "They are all in trouble in one form or another," he said. "What these guys do is bring awareness of the problems of each lake. The mission that these guys are on is very important."

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.”

Lakes Huron/Michigan could see 3.5 foot drop below record low levels by 2030: study

Lakes Huron/Michigan could see 3.5 foot drop below record low levels by 2030: study

A study on water levels projects an unprecedented drop of water levels on Lakes Michigan-Huron and Georgian Bay to 1.1 metres (3.5 feet) below the record low by 2030. By 2040, levels may rise to 0.3 metres (one foot) higher than the 1986 record high. The study by W.F. Baird & Associates Coastal Engineers Ltd. was commissioned by the Georgian Bay Great Lakes Foundation (GBGLF) and was shared virtually by GBGLF on May 16/17. The Baird conclusions are essentially the same as those found in a recently completed five-year study by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), presented during a week-long Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands webinar series from April 4 to 8.

Line 5 pipeline between U.S. and Canada could cause 'devastating damage' to Great Lakes, say environmentalists

Line 5 pipeline between U.S. and Canada could cause 'devastating damage' to Great Lakes, say environmentalists

An aging pipeline that carries oil along the bottom of the ecologically sensitive and turbulent Straits of Mackinac, where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron meet, is in such a state of disrepair it could burst at any moment and cause catastrophic damage to the Great Lakes, environmentalists warn. Line 5, a 1,000-kilometre-long pipeline owned by Calgary-based Enbridge, carries up to 540,000 barrels of oil and natural gas liquids a day from Wisconsin to Sarnia, Ont., where it is shipped to other refineries in Ontario and Quebec.

Water Will Be The New Oil – The Canada Water Agency Belongs In Sault Ste. Marie

Water Will Be The New Oil – The Canada Water Agency Belongs In Sault Ste. Marie

“Canada has one of the largest resources of fresh water in the world. Water is going to be — already is — a very, very valuable commodity and I’ve always found it odd that Canada is so willing to sell oil and natural gas and uranium and coal, which are by their nature finite. But talking about water is off the table, yet water is renewable.” — Paul Cellucci (U.S. ambassador to Canada, 2001 to 2005)

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