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.
The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear appeals from parties who support approval of an open-pit coal mine in southwest Alberta. A review panel had concluded the likely effects of the proposed Grassy Mountain coal mine on fish and water quality outweighed the economic benefits. As a result, Alberta's regulatory agency denied Benga Mining's permit applications.
There is also the question of water use, as it has been reported that the production of lithium through evaporation ponds uses a lot of water. Approximately 2.2 million litres of water is needed to produce one ton of lithium. During the 2019 election the Trudeau Government had promised to create a new water regulator and has been dropping hints that it will be proceeding with such an agency.
Of the 117 comments submitted to the government recently about a proposed gold mine on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore, just one was unequivocally in favour of the project. Almost all of the other commenters were squarely opposed to Atlantic Gold's Fifteen Mile Stream proposal, which would see a 400-hectare open-pit mine developed in the Liscomb Game Sanctuary, about 30 kilometres north of Sheet Harbour, N.S.
Amid all the heartening and hope-filled ways Canadians have resolved to make 2021 a year of positive change, one in particular holds water: the commitment to saving our wetlands. Leading up to 2021, the Government of Canada promised to make significant investments in our environment-and in the wetlands that underpin its health. Today, this commitment must be among our greatest convictions. Our ability to address the colliding crises of biodiversity loss and climate change depend on it. So does our economic recovery.
