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.
Executives of embattled British utility Thames Water, which is partly owned by two of Canada’s biggest pension funds, have insisted that calls for its nationalization are premature and have been highly exaggerated. In an appearance before a committee of British parliamentarians Wednesday, company co-CEO Cathryn Ross said the utility wasn’t close to meeting the conditions required for the government to take over the business under a process known as special administration.
Thames Water may have to be taken over by the government if it runs out of money. But why is the UK's largest water company facing a crisis - and are other firms facing similar problems? When the company was privatised in 1989, it had no debt. But over the years it borrowed heavily and is currently £14bn in debt.
Manitoba Hydro is reducing its request for rate increases for the next two years and is crediting a recent provincial government fee reduction. Earlier this month, the Crown-owned utility said it would ask the provincial regulator, the Public Utilities Board, for rate hikes of 3.5 per cent in each of the next two years. The utility said Tuesday it is revising that request to two per cent in each year.
Manitoba Hydro is asking the provincial regulator, the Public Utilities Board, to approve electricity rate increases of 3.5 per cent in each of the next two years. It also warns that it will likely need rate hikes above the rate of inflation in the future if it is to meet government debt-reduction targets. "These proposed increases will help ensure Manitoba Hydro has the financial resources available to handle the risks created by our $24-billion debt load and factors that are out of our control like fluctuating interest rates, export market prices and water levels," Jay Grewal, president and CEO of the Crown-owned utility, said in a press release Wednesday.
The City of Cornwall is set to implement a water-meter program, which will come into effect in 2025. Cornwall city council narrowly voted 5-4 in favour of approving the implementation of the program during a special meeting on Tuesday. Couns. Elaine MacDonald, Justin Towndale, Carilyne Hébert, Dean Hollingsworth and Mayor Glen Grant voted in favour, whereas Couns. Syd Gardiner, Claude McIntosh, Eric Bergeron and Denis Carr voted against it. Couns. Todd Bennett and Maurice Dupelle were absent from the meeting.
Rebecca Zagozewski, executive director of the Saskatchewan First Nations Water Association, said she has seen contractors save on costs when building water treatment plants on reserves by using obsolete parts and failing to include maintenance manuals, ventilation or chemical rooms, and bathrooms. “Engineering companies will put in their bids obviously as low as they can go,” said Zagozewski.
