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.
Help is needed to keep citizens cool as temperatures soar towards 40 degrees Celsius this week. The Upper Room Mission and Turning Points Collaborative Society are looking for donations of water to keep people hydrated. “This rising heat is so dangerous,” said the Outreach Team with Turning Points, which provides water and refillable bottles to those in need.
One Londoner has donated 4,000 bottles of water to help keep London's most vulnerable hydrated during the most recent hot spell, but advocates say that number can only last for so long. Jen Martin, who works in program support for My Sister's Place, said staying hydrated is a challenge for the 200 daily participants who rely on the centre for snacks and community. Reusable bottles are not always a practical solution, as having a place to wash and fill them can be difficult.
Fifty years ago, nations gathered to create the world’s first global agreement to conserve a habitat. This had long been undervalued, and as a result was rapidly disappearing. Fifty years ago, there was a global call to action to save our wetlands. On February 2, 1971, the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance was adopted in Ramsar, Iran. Often referred to as the Ramsar Convention, its purpose was to stop the worldwide loss of wetlands. Today, 171 countries, including Canada, are parties to the convention. The Ramsar Convention has helped many wetlands. More than 2,400 wetlands around the world have been designated as Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance. Canada has 37 Ramsar sites, including two Nature Conservancy of Canada helps protect in B.C., the Columbia Wetlands and in Creston Valley. World Wetlands Day marks the signing of the Ramsar Convention and is a day to highlight the importance of wetland conservation Despite a global agreement and a special day of recognition, we have not been kind to wetlands over the last half century. Over the past 50-years, over one-third world’s remaining wetlands have been lost. They continue to disappear at a rate faster than forests, and the loss is accelerating.
Students plan to launch a second letter-writing campaign in the new year addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller calling for clean running water for First Nations communities. The letter campaign is called "We haven't forgotten you," said Frank Pio, the school board's Indigenous education teacher. "It's really unfair that they don't get safe water to drink," Comazzi said.
Dozens of people in the Township of Whitewater Region have been forced from their homes as water levels on the Ottawa River peaked this weekend. The Renfrew County, Ont., township is about 140 kilometres northwest of downtown Ottawa, and includes nearly 90 kilometres of shoreline. About 100 homes have been affected by flooding, Mayor Michael Moore said Sunday.
