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.
Snaking beneath Regina's streets are 600 kilometres of water mains built with asbestos-cement. That's about 60 per cent of some 1,000 kilometres of the mains that deliver water to homes around the city. Increasingly, some scientists and communities are questioning the wisdom in having drinking water flowing through pipes constructed from asbestos fibres.
A new ruling from the provincial government on boil-water advisories could impact communities that can't afford clean water, according to the president of Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador. Municipal Affairs Minister Derrick Bragg said the new rule change will require municipalities looking for funding from the provincial government to make clean, safe drinking water their top priority. Towns under a boil-water advisory would have to address the advisory before they apply for funding.
