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 Great Lakes Ecoregion Network (GLEN) is calling on the Canadian and United States governments to renew and strengthen their commitment to water quality and healthy ecosystems. GLEN, a new initiative to engage members of the Great Lakes environmental community on issues related to the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA), is issuing the call for better protection of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin as the signing of the agreement celebrates its 50th anniversary.
On today’s date in 1972, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and U.S. President Richard Nixon began a two-day visit in Ottawa, where they would sign the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The agreement was inspired by recommendations from the International Joint Commission (IJC), which reported excessive levels of phosphorus in the Great Lakes before concluding pollution was happening on both sides of the border.
