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.
If you’re looking to locate ground zero for water issues on a map of Canada, just stick a pin a few kilometres east of Winnipeg. From frequent major flooding on two major rivers to the polluting of the seventh largest freshwater lake in the world, to farmers’ struggles with saturation and drought, to chronic problems with water quality on Indigenous reserves, water is often a top-of-mind issue in the province.
