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 took Ed Sweeney more than 20 years to discover he was drinking contaminated water in his family home in the 90s. He lived in military housing on Canadian Forces Base Valcartier from 1992 to 1998. A friend reached out to him last year on Facebook about how he could receive compensation from the federal government and two private companies as part of a multimillion-dollar contaminated water case in Shannon, Que.
Stephan Gurgurewicz, a self-described army brat who grew up at the Canadian Forces Valcartier Base, says he's glad to have some form of closure. His father was stationed at the base near Quebec City from 1976 until his retirement in 1980, when the family moved to the neighbouring town of Shannon. Both his parents died of cancer, his father in 2004, and his mother last January.
