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

Yukoners

Just over 20% of Yukon's health facilities at risk to future flooding, report warns

Just over 20% of Yukon's health facilities at risk to future flooding, report warns

Flooding has been an immediate and pressing concern for Yukoners so far this summer, with some people now finding themselves under an evacuation alert as water levels near their homes creep up. But a report out last month from Canadian Institute for Climate Choices (CICC) suggests that when it comes to floods, the territory needs to start looking decades into the future as well. Researchers at the institute looked at how many health centres in Canada are built in areas that put them under threat of being affected by floods occurring 20, 50 and 100 years from now.

'It's overwhelming': Yukoners struggle to save homes from flood water

'It's overwhelming': Yukoners struggle to save homes from flood water

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."

Yukon pushed to develop protections for irreplaceable wetlands threatened by mining

Yukon pushed to develop protections for irreplaceable wetlands threatened by mining

An independent panel is urging the Yukon government to develop a wetlands policy to protect unique streams, bogs, fens and peatland from mining because there are no known ways to fully restore these sensitive ecosystems once disturbed. Wetlands filter water, provide habitat to species and sequester carbon but are quickly being lost to development worldwide — an issue drawing attention on World Wetlands Day Feb. 2.

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