Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

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.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

probe

Competition Bureau probe of 'flushable' wipes goes down the drain

Competition Bureau probe of 'flushable' wipes goes down the drain

To flush or not to flush? It is a question Canada's Competition Bureau says it cannot answer. Three years ago, Friends of the Earth Canada and lawyers from Ecojustice filed a grievance with the bureau saying the makers of 20 disposable wipes were falsely advertising the products as safe to flush down the toilet. In February, the Competition Bureau informed Friends in a letter that it was closing its inquiry because it's not clear what it really means to be "flushable." "There are a number of competing guidelines about when a product can be considered to be disposable in municipal sewer systems," the letter reads. Friends CEO Beatrice Olivastri called that "totally unacceptable."

Indigenous services minister overrules senior bureaucrat on Neskantaga water probe

Indigenous services minister overrules senior bureaucrat on Neskantaga water probe

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller has overruled a senior departmental official over the framing of an investigation into Neskantaga First Nation's 25-year-long water crisis, CBC News has learned. Anne Scotton, the department's Ontario regional director general, informed Neskantaga Chief Chris Moonias on Thursday afternoon by email that the terms of reference for the investigation would be finalized soon, and that a consultant had been chosen to manage the third-party probe. There was a line in the attached document for the chief's signature.

Ottawa to probe contractors hired to fix longest-standing boil water advisory

Ottawa to probe contractors hired to fix longest-standing boil water advisory

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller is preparing to launch a third-party investigation into the business practices of consultants and engineering companies hired to end Canada's longest-standing boil water advisory — a probe that could extend to other communities, CBC News has learned. "The problem is we have a system for delivering infrastructure that always goes with the lowest bidder," Angus said. "When you have a big-ticket item, like a water plant that's very expensive to build in a community, costs and corners get cut and that's the danger. Neskantaga has been a nightmare situation."

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