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

Rana Bokhari

WINNIPEG VOTES: Bokhari promises to start testing water for asbestos

WINNIPEG VOTES: Bokhari promises to start testing water for asbestos

Winnipeg mayoral candidate Rana Bokhari says she will start testing the city’s water for asbestos if elected mayor this fall. Bokhari would also lobby the federal government to include Winnipeg’s water pipe system in their upcoming infrastructure review. “We have not tested Winnipeg’s water for asbestos fibres since 1995,” Bokhari said in a Monday news release. “As research into the issue of asbestos in water pipes and the possibly detrimental effect on human health has continued for the past 30 years, it’s become increasingly obvious that we are ignoring a major potential health hazard in our water system.”

Mayoral candidate Rana Bokhari pledges more money to replace Winnipeg's combined sewers

Mayoral candidate Rana Bokhari pledges more money to replace Winnipeg's combined sewers

Mayoral candidate Rana Bokhari promises to spend more money replacing combined sewers in Winnipeg. Bokhari pledged Monday to increase annual spending on replacing combined sewers with dedicated pipes for sewage and stormwater from $45 million every year to $60 million. Combined sewers, which lie below older parts of Winnipeg, carry both runoff from the surface and sewage from homes and businesses. This mixture is pumped to one of the city's three wastewater treatment plants. When heavy rains exceed the capacity of city pumps, rainwater-diluted sewage overflows into the city's rivers. That, in turn, results in more nutrients — primarily phosphorus and nitrogen — flowing through Red River into Lake Winnipeg, where they promote the growth of algae and alter the ecology of the lake.

Bokhari pledges to fast-track North End Water Treatment Plant upgrades

Bokhari pledges to fast-track North End Water Treatment Plant upgrades

Winnipeg mayoral candidate Rana Bokhari wants to speed up the North End Water Treatment Plant upgrades as well as provide more money to the Combined Sewer Overflow Plan if elected this fall. Speaking to reporters outside the North End plant on Monday, Bokhari said that she aims to have upgrades to the facility completed by 2033, 12 years ahead of schedule. Bokhari would also up the spending on the Combined Sewer Overflow Plan to $60 million a year. She commended the city for upping its budget from $30 million a year to $45 million. Bokhari says she would work with the province and federal governments to match that.

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