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.
As the city of Montreal looks for solutions for its aging, leaky water infrastructure, Mayor Valérie Plante has made it clear that residential water meters are not an option. In theory, meters could be used to charge each household for consumption, thus encouraging people to use less and reduce the strain on a system that is essentially hemorrhaging drinking water.
Jean-François Boyer was awakened shortly after 4:30 a.m. Friday morning by someone pounding on his door urging him to look outside his third-storey apartment in Montreal's Saint-Michel neighbourhood. "I looked down from the balcony and saw that my car had water halfway up its doors," said Boyer. "I didn't know what to do." A major water main broke Friday morning, flooding streets in the neighbourhood and filling several basements and vehicles.
