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.
Suggested measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 won't be effective in remote Manitoba First Nations unless housing conditions and access to clean water are improved, says a new report. "Asking people to wash their hands and isolate in overcrowded homes without running water is like asking people unable to afford bread to eat cake," reads the report, released Wednesday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it even harder for some residents in Harrietsfield, N.S., to get clean drinking water. The Halifax-area community's well water has been contaminated for years, forcing dozens of households to get potable water from nearby St. Paul's United Church or bring it home from work. With many businesses shut down and people working from home, that's no longer an option, said resident Marlene Brown.
