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.
Monias Fiddler says time is moving slowly for the Sandy Lake First Nation as the community feels the immense weight from the loss of three children in a house fire last month. Grant Meekis, 9; Remi Meekis, 6; and Wilfred Fiddler, 4, died when their home was engulfed in flames on the Oji-Cree First Nation in northern Ontario. Their parents and three other siblings survived the blaze.
The statement said firefighters, police and community members acted quickly to try to help but the house was already engulfed in flames. Only one water truck was available to feed the fire truck, according to the statement, along with a lack of adequate water lines and infrastructure preventing the use of fire hydrants. "Our volunteers did all they could do with what they had," Chief Delores Kakegamic said in a statement. "We should have the same level of support as anyone else in Canada. Lives are at stake." The Office of the Fire Marshal, along with the Ontario Coroner's Office and Nishnawbe Aski Police Service, are investigating the fire. Sandy Lake is roughly 600 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay.
