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.
I put seven of Canada's bottled water brands to the test to uncover the real composition of their contents. Although it's generally safe to consume bottled water in our nation, I wanted to dig deeper. The question is not just about safety, but about which brands offer the best quality, and which ones you might be better off avoiding. I opted for some of the most popular brands including Flow, Nestlé Pure Life, Smartwater, Aquafina, Naya, Dasani and Eska.
Canada's environment minister is denying the Saskatchewan government's allegations that federal scientists purposely trespassed on private farmland and were testing water samples for nitrates or nutrients related to farm runoff. On Sunday, Saskatchewan Minister Responsible for the Water Security Agency Jeremy Cockrill posted a public letter to federal Minister for Environment and Climate Change Canada Steven Guilbeault.
The Saskatchewan government said it wants to know exactly what the federal government is looking for if it is testing water samples from farmers’ dugouts. Water Security Agency minister Jeremy Cockrill said the government received multiple reports from farmers last week that federal vehicles were on their land. A tweet from Pense farmer and former Western Canadian Wheat Growers president Levi Wood showed a photograph of a Government of Canada vehicle and two people.
Much of the surface of Jones Lake in Moncton's west end is covered by a thick, green layer of scum. The city has determined it's "horse hair" algae, also known as "cotton ball" algae. Dan Hicks, the director of parks for the city, says it might not look good, but it isn't toxic to people or pets. "It doesn't cause really human health issues in any great way, but there's certainly an abundance of it in Jones Lake right now," he said.
Two University of Alberta scientists gave Tiny Township council a taste of the municipality's superior groundwater while asking the municipality to collaborate on a project they hope to launch next year. William Shotyk and Michael Powell were at a recent committee of the whole meeting to present the work they've done so far studying the artesian spring present in this region of Ontario. "The groundwater has below-detection limits of nitrates and phosphates," said Shotyk, professor and Bocock agriculture and the environment chair. "It's an indication of the water quality. The other perimeter is chloride.
Water is something most Canadians take for granted. We have so much of it, it's no wonder. Per capita, our country has the world's third-largest freshwater reserves, but yet in many Indigenous communities, water can be difficult to access, at-risk because of unreliable treatment systems, or contaminated. That's the case in Delaware First Nation, an Indigenous community of about 500 people an hour southwest of London, Ont., a place where fishing was everything 60 years ago.
