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.
Florian Lemphers is unpacking his moving boxes at the same time as his Christmas gifts this year. Lemphers, his wife Andrea and their two dogs, canoed out of their front yard in Shallow Bay, Yukon, on July 13, after water from the usually-distant bay breached the berm set up to protect their home. Volunteers came from all over the territory to set up sandbags to try to keep the water at bay — but still, they were forced to leave and stay out for months.
Yukoner Florian Lemphers has been watching the water creep ever closer to his home over the last two weeks. A five-foot tall fence on the outer edge of his Shallow Bay property is now peeking just a few inches above the waterline. "It's very, very sad. We've been here for 38 years and we've never seen anything like this," he said on Monday. "It has been a labour of love over the last 38 years, putting this place together, and it's very, very hard to see it be threatened this way. So we're doing the best we can."
