Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

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.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

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Tatham Engineering names leader for water and wastewater team

Tatham Engineering names leader for water and wastewater team

Jun Liu, P.Eng., has rejoined Tatham Engineering at its office in Collingwood, Ont., as group leader for the firm’s water and wastewater engineering department. Liu has more than 20 years’ experience and has contributed to water and wastewater projects across Ontario. He previously worked at Tatham from 2005 to 2007 as a project engineer. He continued in that role for the city of Barrie, then worked as a water and wastewater process engineer for the regional municipalities of Niagara and York. Most recently, he was a senior engineer with Indigenous Services Canada.

Former Neskantaga contractor accused of cutting corners in other First Nations

Former Neskantaga contractor accused of cutting corners in other First Nations

“They cut corners every day, every day,” said Justin Gee, vice-president of First Nations Engineering Services Ltd. Gee said he encountered these recurring problems while overseeing the work of a construction firm, Kingdom Construction Limited (KCL), building a water treatment plant 10 years ago in Wasauksing First Nation, along the eastern shore of Georgian Bay, about 250 kilometres north of Toronto. “You have to be on them every step of the way,” said Gee, who was the contract administrator on the project. “You can’t leave them on their own.”

Ottawa replaces federal bureaucrat working with Neskantaga First Nation during state of emergency

Ottawa replaces federal bureaucrat working with Neskantaga First Nation during state of emergency

At the community's request, Indigenous Services Canada has replaced the top federal bureaucrat working with Neskantaga First Nation during its current state of emergency. Assistant deputy minister Joanne Wilkinson has taken over from Ontario regional director general Anne Scotton as the liaison between department officials and Neskantaga — a fly-in community about 450 km north of Thunder Bay, Ont., that has been under a boil-water advisory for 25 years.

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