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.
Tom Johnson didn't recognize his own land Saturday morning. "I thought I was in a different country because two days ago everything was brown," he said. The rancher near Oak Point, Man., woke up to green pastures, buds on his yard's trees and a bit of optimism. Parts of southern and central Manitoba saw between 40 and 110 millimetres of rain between Friday and Saturday — the first significant rainfall some areas have seen in months.
Saskatchewan's Ministry of Agriculture announced $119 million in support for cattle producers on Tuesday. The funding is intended to help producers who have faced extra costs, such as accessing water and feed, as a result of the ongoing drought. Funding will also be available to other livestock producers. The support falls under the AgriRecovery program, part of the Canadian Agricultural Partnership agreement. The province is asking the federal government to provide an additional $178 million for the program.
