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

litigation

Property owner learns a hard lesson on insurance against water damage

Property owner learns a hard lesson on insurance against water damage

In early December, while the property was unoccupied, Morgan’s real estate agent phoned him to advise that the house had been damaged as a result of a burst water connection to a second-floor toilet. Co-operators investigated the claim and denied coverage. The company’s position was that there was no insurance coverage for water damage after the property was vacant for more than five days, and there was no insurance at all for any loss if the dwelling was vacant for more than 30 consecutive days.

First Nations communities pursue clean drinking water through the courts

First Nations communities pursue clean drinking water through the courts

This time of year, with the temperature plunging below -20 C, a snowmobile and an ice chisel are required tools for anyone in Tataskweyak Cree Nation in need of fresh water. There’s the bottled stuff, trucked into town courtesy of the federal government, but the weekly shipment of 1,500 cases is only sufficient to meet basic consumption needs. For cleaning, cooking and basic hygiene water, many residents need a supplementary source. And rather than use their tainted tap water, they follow a snowmobile trail several kilometres to Assean Lake, pails in hand.

Canada’s Indigenous pipe dream might end Trudeau’s Trans Mountain nightmare

Canada’s Indigenous pipe dream might end Trudeau’s Trans Mountain nightmare

An Indigenous-led group plans to offer to buy a majority stake in the Trans Mountain oil pipeline from the Canadian government this week or next, a deal that could help Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mitigate election-year criticism from environmentalists. The group, called Project Reconciliation, aims to submit the $6.9 billion offer as early as Friday, managing director Stephen Mason told Reuters, and start negotiations with Ottawa two weeks later. Project Reconciliation said the investment will alleviate First Nations poverty, a watershed for Indigenous people who have historically watched Canada’s resources enrich others.

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