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 leaders in Manitoba are calling on the federal government to do more to respect the basic human rights of Indigenous people living in Canada after the group Human Rights Watch released their 2022 report on issues affecting human rights and Indigenous people. Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization headquartered in New York City that conducts research and advocacy on human rights.
A 72-year-old volunteer with the "Rock the Park" music festival says she quit in disgust after learning the only source of water at the July concert series in London's Harris Park would be bottled water sold at $5 apiece, a practice she says is akin to gouging people for their basic human rights. The four-day music festival will take place from July 13 to 17 in Harris Park this year. It comes after after a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tickets are $90 and this year's show features big name acts such as Alanis Morrisette, Garbage and the Crash Test Dummies, among others.
The organization is seeking partners to bring clean water to Indigenous communities in Canada. First Nation Goods, a company offering a wide range of services and products to Indigenous people and communities in Canada, announces the Clean Water For All initiative. The effort seeks to promote and provide access to clean water for Indigenous communities.
Nunavut MP Lori Idlout is calling for $180 million from the federal government to “end the water emergency in Iqaluit.” The government should “fix an issue of basic human rights … as the federal government would for any other major Canadian city,” Idlout wrote in a Friday letter to federal Infrastructure and Communities Minister Dominic LeBlanc. Idlout didn’t say exactly what the money would be used for, but mentioned Mayor Kenny Bell’s recent statements that the city needs a new water source and treatment plant.
Sometimes, perhaps like you, I wonder what really is the truth behind some stories. Here are some of the things that puzzle me today…and I wonder what is the truth. 73 per cent of First Nations’ water systems are at high or medium risk of contamination. In 2010, the United Nations declared that water and sanitation were basic human rights, acknowledging they are essential to the realization of all other human rights. But if we can build oil lines going through Indigenous land, why can’t we bring water lines to those lands? What is the truth?
