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.
It also doesn't include any mention of a new water pricing structure that the strategy unveiled last November and said the province should consider. Klein wouldn't entertain questions on why the province abandoned the idea, saying instead that the action plan released Wednesday is the result of discussions with stakeholders. In the area of conservation, the plan calls on Manitoba to look at ways to reduce water use through improved food processing practices.
Canada’s iconic Prairie grasslands are in peril, but the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) has sprung into action to try to save the vital ecosystems. Its Prairie Grasslands Action Plan proposes to conserve more than 500,000 hectares (more than 5,000 square kilometres) by 2030 —- six times the size of Calgary. In a recent interview with The Weather Network, Jeremy Hogan, NCC's director of prairie grassland conservation, said only 18 per cent of Canada's original grasslands remain. "We have taken the grasslands for granted a little bit. They're one of our most productive ecosystems in terms of food production, but also services like water storage, filtration [and] preventing droughts and floods," said Hogan.
The Canadian government is facing new calls to stop violating the rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people as UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples Francisco Calí Tzay kicks off his 10-day visit to Canada. Calí Tzay and his delegation will tour Canada from March 1 to March 10. The Special Rapporteur’s mandate includes reporting on the human rights situation of Indigenous Peoples worldwide and addressing specific alleged cases of violations of Indigenous rights.
Manitoba is unveiling a new water strategy that emphasizes conservation — and floats the idea of a new pricing system. The provincial Progressive Conservative government released a strategy on Tuesday that will, in broad strokes, guide Manitoba's actions to protect its water resources for years to come. The province said it will develop an action plan this winter to determine its future decisions. The strategy vows to "make every drop count" by valuing the province's water resources. "The focus needs to shift from supply-side management solutions to approaches that reduce how much water we use," the strategy reads.
The province has unveiled a five-year, 89-point action plan to advance the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which became legislation in B.C. over two years ago. Hailed as historic by government and Indigenous leaders speaking at its unveiling, the plan outlines a list of "significant actions" the province is promising to undertake in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous Peoples.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his Liberal government remains committed to ending all long-term drinking water advisories that exist on First Nations, despite not setting a new date to do so. Trudeau discussed the work done up to now on the issue during an address Thursday to a virtual gathering of chiefs with the Assembly of First Nations (AFN). To date, he says, the Liberals have helped lift 120 long-term drinking water advisories. A government website reports there are 42 such advisories still in place in 30 different communities.
Indigenous Services Canada doesn’t expect to resolve all long-term drinking water advisories on reserves until at least 2023 — and may not have long-term solutions in place until 2026 — according to an action plan provided to the House public accounts committee. Christiane Fox, deputy minister of Indigenous Services, declined to provide the committee with a firm deadline during her testimony on Thursday.
The pandemic has put some of the Liberal government's key deadlines of its reconciliation agenda in jeopardy, including a promise to end all long-term boil-water advisories on First Nations by next March. Last week's throne speech indicated a shift in language around the commitment to eliminate the long-term advisories. It made no reference to the 2021 deadline — which was clearly cited in the previous throne speech in 2019.
