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

advocates

Advocates call on Sask. government to create wetland policy before agricultural water policy

Advocates call on Sask. government to create wetland policy before agricultural water policy

The Saskatchewan Alliance for Water Sustainability (SAWS) and other water advocacy groups are calling on the province to create a wetland policy. About 10,000 acres of wetlands are lost on average each year in Saskatchewan, according to Ducks Unlimited. It is the only province without a comprehensive policy to manage and preserve wetlands. Advocates said they are concerned that the province's new upcoming Agricultural Water Stewardship Policy will maintain existing drainage and create new wetland drainage projects. The policy aims to help farmers deal with occasional overland flooding.

Advocates worry southeast Calgary development could devastate natural wetlands and habitats

Advocates worry southeast Calgary development could devastate natural wetlands and habitats

Environmental advocates say a proposed suburban development in southeast Calgary would be built on a environmentally sensitive area. There are concerns construction could mean the destruction of thriving natural wetlands and a riparian area along the Bow River. Ricardo Ranch is a 570-hectare area south of Seton. Its area structure plan was approved by city council in 2019. In July, the city gave the green light for three communities in Ricardo Ranch: Seton Ridge, Logan Landing and Nostalgia.

Coastal Protection Act doesn't do enough for climate change, advocates say

Coastal Protection Act doesn't do enough for climate change, advocates say

As Nova Scotia nears completion of the long-awaited Coastal Protection Act, some advocates say there's a hidden part of coastal development that has been left out of the legislation. The Coastal Protection Act regulations will set out site-specific horizontal and vertical setbacks that dictate how close private property owners can build to the coast. But the act does not address setbacks for the septic systems and wells associated with those developments, which advocates worry could jeopardize the act's ability to safeguard the shoreline from the impacts of climate change.

What if Teenagers Renegotiate the Columbia River Treaty?

What if Teenagers Renegotiate the Columbia River Treaty?

You may have heard about the Columbia River Treaty in the news once, or perhaps many times, over the last decade. The Columbia River Treaty is an agreement between Canada and the United States about our shared watershed. It was originally ratified in 1964 with negotiations to “modernize” it ongoing since May 2018. It’s big. It’s complicated. It’s important. It’s confusing.

Why the long, strange debate over fluoride in tap water is about to resurface in Alberta

Why the long, strange debate over fluoride in tap water is about to resurface in Alberta

In the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, a public health debate rages. It’s not about vaccines, masks or where people can smoke, though — it’s about fluoride. It’s in our toothpaste and mouthwash, and a common word around dental offices. But in Calgary, it holds a spot in the public consciousness due to decades of advocates on both sides slogging through six plebiscites on whether the city should put fluoride — a mineral found in rocks and dirt — into the water supply to fight tooth decay.

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