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.
Brandon City Council will introduce a bylaw to borrow $15 million for the final phase of upgrades to the municipal water treatment plant at its next meeting. In January, Premier Heather Stefanson announced that Brandon would be receiving a further $15 million from the province toward the project on top of the $38 million it had already provided.
Investment enables water, electricity, and broadband connections for community growth, housing and commercial space The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) and Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg (formerly Pic Mobert First Nation) have finalized their agreement for the CIB to lend $7.9 million towards critical infrastructure required for commercial and residential development that will improve living standards on reserve.
The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) and the shíshálh Nation Government District (sNGD) announced financial close on an agreement, which will see the CIB lend $6.4 million to support a new Port Stalashen Wastewater Treatment Plant through its Indigenous Community Infrastructure Initiative. The plant will be located on shíshálh Nation lands near Sechelt, B.C., and will play a role in enabling economic growth, protecting the coastal environment, and safeguarding public health through improving the outfall. The investment will serve the shíshálh Nation, which represents a population of more than 1,500 members, and lessees on shíshálh Nation Lands (Tsawcome) No. 1.
Melfort council has passed a motion to allow the city to borrow $4 million for water line replacements this summer. This isn’t the first public conversation about the borrowing with it being a topic of discussion when council deliberated the 2022 budget in January. The city loses about 12 to 15 per cent of its water supply due to breaks annually. Adam Homes, Melfort’s city manager, called the $4 million loan a start to alleviating the issue.
