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

project manager

Single bid on water tower build

Single bid on water tower build

Council will examine a $9,002,000 cost for the construction of Wellington’s water storage tank and bulk water filling station – over budget by $992,772. For Tuesday night’s council meeting, a staff report recommends a contract be awarded to the sole bidder, Landmark Structures Co. Garrett Osborne, project manager, notes in his report to council that the number of companies that construct these tanks is limited, so a single bid was not unexpected. In response to concern about low water pressure and the ability to handle future development, capital work reports were brought to council in 2019 for discussion. In the 20-year plan, the cost for water system improvements were estimated at $10-15 million – those costs were expected to be higher now mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain costs. The 1960s water system in Wellington has been modified over the years.

Rosie Simms helps keep the fresh water flowing

Rosie Simms helps keep the fresh water flowing

Fresh water is the basis of all life. In Canada, we have often taken water for granted, assuming its abundance. This sense of security is now threatened as more and more communities deal with devastating droughts, floods, fires and contaminated water. At POLIS, our work addresses the root causes of water sustainability problems. We look at how laws, policies, and governance (who makes decisions and how) need to change to ensure our rivers and streams can keep our land and people healthy, provide communities with greater influence over their watersheds, and respect Indigenous legal orders.

First Nations workers in Sask. sacrifice wages, vacation to run underfunded water systems

First Nations workers in Sask. sacrifice wages, vacation to run underfunded water systems

Rebecca Zagozewski is the executive director of the Saskatchewan First Nations Water Association, a non-profit organization that works to build First Nations’ capacity to take care and control of their own water services. She says recruitment and retention of water treatment plant operators is a “real problem” on Saskatchewan First Nations, largely because they often can’t pay operators competitive wages.

Former Neskantaga contractor accused of cutting corners in other First Nations

Former Neskantaga contractor accused of cutting corners in other First Nations

“They cut corners every day, every day,” said Justin Gee, vice-president of First Nations Engineering Services Ltd. Gee said he encountered these recurring problems while overseeing the work of a construction firm, Kingdom Construction Limited (KCL), building a water treatment plant 10 years ago in Wasauksing First Nation, along the eastern shore of Georgian Bay, about 250 kilometres north of Toronto. “You have to be on them every step of the way,” said Gee, who was the contract administrator on the project. “You can’t leave them on their own.”

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