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.
"When I hear the rain and I know it's going to be a big one, I come to check this," Peter Gleeson says, motioning toward the drainage system in the floor of his garage. "I have two permanent pumps, and four more." Gleeson is in the habit of preparing for the worst. He and his neighbours in Montreal's Mercier-Ouest neighbourhood have repeatedly dealt with flooding and sewer backups.
Regina city council is set to discuss municipal boundaries, a new community centre and residential drainage when it meets Wednesday afternoon. Amending the current wastewater and storm water bylaw — which was last updated in 2016 — is among the first items on the agenda. City administration is suggesting council vote in favour of a new bylaw that would allow for the protection of city-owned drainage infrastructure, and for the enforcement of new and existing lot grading regulations.
Environment Canada has decided not to lay charges against Vale for potentially dangerous run-off leaking from its Sudbury slag piles. But the mining company is currently installing a new system for controlling the slag seepage, work it says is unrelated to the government investigation. Environment Canada refused an interview with CBC, but said in a statement that it began investigating contaminated water coming from the Sudbury slag pile after a complaint from the public in 2012.
