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 province of Manitoba says it hopes to improve access to timely testing of water quality samples in northern Manitoba through a pilot program announced Thursday. A bacteriological water testing in site in Thompson is expected to reduce delays and uncertainties associated with shipping water samples from the northern Indigenous communities of Pikwitonei, Thicket Portage and Nelson House, according to a provincial news release.
