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.
Under the Investing in Canada Plan, the federal government is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and Canada’s rural and northern communities. Infrastructure Canada helps address complex challenges that Canadians face every day—ranging from the rapid growth of our cities, to climate change, and environmental threats to our water and land.
Fresh water is the basis of all life. In Canada, we have often taken water for granted, assuming its abundance. This sense of security is now threatened as more and more communities deal with devastating droughts, floods, fires and contaminated water. At POLIS, our work addresses the root causes of water sustainability problems. We look at how laws, policies, and governance (who makes decisions and how) need to change to ensure our rivers and streams can keep our land and people healthy, provide communities with greater influence over their watersheds, and respect Indigenous legal orders.
Pays Plat Chief Peter Mushquash emphasized the importance of protecting Lake Superior for future generations during a Dec. 15 announcement of water treatment plant investments in his community and Biigtigong Nishnaabeg. “Water is important, it’s very important,” Chief Mushquash says. “That’s where we get our water, right out of Lake Superior. So we have to look after that Lake Superior. We have to be very careful with our water.”
