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

low-income residents

Hamilton exploring relief programs as unpaid water bills soar

Hamilton exploring relief programs as unpaid water bills soar

The City of Hamilton is examining the possibility of new relief or rebate programs to help low-income residents amidst a surge in the number of unpaid water bills. Senior policy advisor John Savoie says such arrears have soared in Hamilton in recent years, reaching 20,000 accounts last year with total unpaid amounts hitting $4.4 million. “Unpaid after 60 days, it gets transferred to the property’s tax roll,” said Savoie. “We have seen over the last five years or so, the number and the value of those tax roll transfers have more than doubled.” Savoie added that 90 per cent of last year’s unpaid water bills were residential.

FRESH, September 6, 2022: Demand Surges As Detroit Unrolls Water Affordability Plan

FRESH, September 6, 2022: Demand Surges As Detroit Unrolls Water Affordability Plan

Starting this month, over 2,500 Detroit residents will see lower water rates as a new affordability plan takes effect, the Detroit Free Press reports. The plan offers low-income residents a fixed monthly water rate, calculated based on a resident’s income and water usage. Four thousand more households are on the program’s waiting list. This month also sees a new rate structure in Detroit, which lowered most water bills by $2. The city’s moratorium on water shutoffs, enacted more than two years ago, is set to expire at the end of 2022, though officials say that households enrolled in the affordability program will not be affected.

Tie vote at City Hall defeats motion to explore water utility rebate for all low-income residents

Tie vote at City Hall defeats motion to explore water utility rebate for all low-income residents

Another attempt to put a rebate program in place for all low-income households in Regina has failed thanks to a tie vote at executive committee this week. “I’m very frustrated,” Coun. Andrew Stevens (Ward 3) said in an interview Thursday. “It’s going to be increasingly more difficult for us to have credibility when it comes to community wellness, to talk about poverty, anti-poverty initiatives, when we decided on several occasions not to use the levers at our disposal to address these concerns.”

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