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.
new conventional water treatment system
Pays Plat Chief Peter Mushquash emphasized the importance of protecting Lake Superior for future generations during a Dec. 15 announcement of water treatment plant investments in his community and Biigtigong Nishnaabeg. “Water is important, it’s very important,” Chief Mushquash says. “That’s where we get our water, right out of Lake Superior. So we have to look after that Lake Superior. We have to be very careful with our water.”
Two First Nation in northwestern are getting funding from both levels of government to improve drinking water in their communities. The federal government is giving $3.7 million in funding to Pays Plat First Nation and Biigtigong Nishnaabeg, formerly known as the Ojibways of Pic River. The money will also be used for construction of a new water treatment plant for Biigtigong Nishnaabeg. The province also announced they were contributing $908,443 to the project through the Green Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada plan.
