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.
The team working behind the controversial development of Toronto’s historic Ontario Place site insist the project is for the greater good of the city, and will resort and revitalize parts of the landscape that are crumbling apart. The proposed development will include an indoor water park and botanical garden, as well as a large parking lot. Critics are unhappy that the privately owned spa is being built on public land, in part with taxpayer’s dollars.
The province says it recently concluded almost four weeks of online public consultations aimed at gathering input on design concepts for future public spaces and parkland at the site. The results of those consultations and previous public engagement events will be shared in 2023. Public access to the waterfront has been a major source of conflict to this point and the push to privatize a large portion of Ontario Place has those opposed sounding the alarm along the lake even louder.
An environmental group is sounding the alarm about the city's main sewage and stormwater system after finding trash like condoms, sanitary wipes and tampons floating in Toronto harbour last month. Mark Mattson, an environmental lawyer and the founder of Swim Drink Fish — a volunteer group working to create swimmable, drinkable, and fishable water for everyone — told CBC Toronto he went to Ontario Place to check out the quality of the water the day after a large storm on July 24.
