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

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Regional council votes to repeal sewer line maintenance policy

Regional council votes to repeal sewer line maintenance policy

Durham regional council has repealed a controversial policy which changed the way home sewer lines are maintained and repaired. Council voted Wednesday to undo the changes. Regional staff will once again be responsible for repairing sanitary sewer service connections on private property (up to one metre away from a home’s foundation).

The region is being directed to reimburse customers who paid for their own repairs.

A regional sewer system bylaw was changed in April 2022, making homeowners responsible (at the time) for the portion of each line that runs through their property.

Former Neskantaga contractor accused of cutting corners in other First Nations

Former Neskantaga contractor accused of cutting corners in other First Nations

“They cut corners every day, every day,” said Justin Gee, vice-president of First Nations Engineering Services Ltd. Gee said he encountered these recurring problems while overseeing the work of a construction firm, Kingdom Construction Limited (KCL), building a water treatment plant 10 years ago in Wasauksing First Nation, along the eastern shore of Georgian Bay, about 250 kilometres north of Toronto. “You have to be on them every step of the way,” said Gee, who was the contract administrator on the project. “You can’t leave them on their own.”

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