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 he first started, Perkins admits he got into trouble with provincial and municipal officials who he says were worried about the volume of water on his land. Jonathan Platts with Ducks Unlimited Canada works with landowners who want to build wetlands from scratch, as Perkins has done. "Constructed wetlands, starting them from scratch, and doing them right, I think you can still have very productive wetlands and ones that can certainly compliment your property and help wildlife," said Platts, who lives on P.E.I. and is the new head of wetland restoration for Ducks Unlimited in Atlantic Canada.
