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.
Winnipeggers will deal with flooded basements and sewage in the rivers for decades as the city's sewer improvement plan crawls along at its current pace. The city has increased the amount of rainfall, snowmelt and sewage its systems can hold by one percentage point since 2013. But that's right on track, one city councillor said.
