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.
As summer droughts become increasingly common and more severe in B.C., farmers on the Sunshine Coast are asking to be exempt from emergency water usage restrictions. The district is currently under Stage 2 restrictions — where lawn watering is not permitted, and other types of water usage are permitted with restrictions — but provincial forecasters warn the province could face a long, unusually severe drought this year.
The world is currently experiencing an unprecedented climate and ecological crisis. Climate change is warming our planet and altering the water cycle, resulting in extreme temperatures, flooding, droughts, and wildfires. It's also contributing to the destruction of our planet's rich biodiversity, which negatively impacts our communities and our quality of life, and threatens the livelihoods of Canadians who rely on it. Protecting more nature across Canada directly addresses these challenges.
Today, the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Member of Parliament for Moncton–Riverview–Dieppe, on behalf of the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities; the Honourable Ernie Steeves, Minister of Finance and Member of the Legislative Assembly for Moncton–North; and Her Worship Dawn Arnold, Mayor of Moncton, announced funding for improvements to Moncton's potable water system. These upgrades will result in safer drinking water by implementing technology to remove harmful toxins that blue-green algae can produce in potable water systems.
Damage to Earth’s oceans and glaciers from climate change is outpacing the ability of governments to protect them, a new report from an international scientific panel concludes. “The capacity of governance systems in polar and ocean regions to respond to climate change impacts has strengthened recently,” says the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “But this development is not sufficiently rapid or robust to adequately address the scale of increasing projected risks.”
