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.
Residential water and sewer bills must increase each of the next four years to keep pace with rising cost pressures. A staff report going to council’s Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee (SPPC) recommends water rates rise 2.5 per cent next year — and anticipate similar increases each of the following three years.
The prime minister's multi-stop visit in Winnipeg on Wednesday included a late-day meeting with Scott Gillingham, where the mayor says he cited inflationary pressures among the reasons why the city needs more financial help from the federal government for three major capital projects. "We as a city, the ratepayers of Winnipeg, cannot bear the total cost of the increases related to inflation," Gillingham told CBC News after his meeting with Justin Trudeau.
Drivers in Fredericton can blame inflation — at least in part — every time they encounter a pothole. The soaring cost of goods and services brought on by inflation means the City of Fredericton needs to spend more money replacing its aging infrastructure, including roads, water pipes and buses. City treasurer Alicia Keating says inflation has meant infrastructure is not being replaced when it should, and the city is falling behind on its obligation to replace assets before they break.
Windsor city officials are calling on the federal government to help with the rising costs of flooding mitigation projects in Windsor's east end. Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens, Ward 6 Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac and Windsor West MP Brian Masse want the federal government to invest money in the city's Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF) for city sewers and water projects as part of Windsor's flooding and sewer master plan.
With inflation driving construction costs higher than in previous years, local service distracts are having trouble coming up with the 10 per cent in funding they need to tackle important infrastructure upgrades. When small communities and local service districts in Newfoundland and Labrador need to build roads or water treatment plants, most of the cost is covered by the provincial government. But some districts have started to run into problems, when jobs can no longer be done for the amount of money available by the time tenders go out.
Fredericton councillors have agreed in principle to hold off on a rate increase to residents' water bills next year, despite concerns that doing so will put the city behind on needed infrastructure upgrades. City treasurer Alicia Keating, who laid out the proposed 2023 water and sewer budget during a meeting Tuesday night, recommended the move. The city has in recent years been hiking water rates annually by about five per cent to help replace underground pipes and other aging infrastructure.
