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.
Saskatchewan is known for its many beautiful lakes and abundance of fresh water and wetlands. Helping to protect the province’s natural resource of water is the Saskatchewan Association of Watersheds. The association’s executive director, Bridget Andrews, explains the work they do and how the public can help protect Saskatchewan’s waterways.
Environmental groups are applauding B.C. Premier David Eby's new promise to protect 30 per cent of the province's land by 2030 in partnership with Indigenous Peoples. The goal signals a potential shift by the NDP under the new premier to improve B.C.'s lacklustre record of protecting biodiversity and endangered species hot spots, conservation groups say.
Protecting and conserving habitat and species requires collaborating with partners, including Indigenous peoples, all levels of government, industry, and community stakeholders. It calls for transformative change, innovation, and proper accounting for the value of nature across all sectors. The Governments of Canada and Yukon are committed to working together to protect and conserve biodiversity, habitat, and species at risk in the Yukon. This will contribute to the goal of protecting 25 per cent of land and fresh water in Canada by 2025 and 30 per cent by 2030.
The Province is investing an additional $20 million to help protect more of Nova Scotia’s land and water and designating another 9,300 hectares of Crown land for the benefit of Nova Scotians and the environment. Environment and Climate Change Minister Timothy Halman made the announcements today, December 12, in Middle Sackville near the newly designated Sackville River Wilderness Area. It covers about 800 hectares of mature forests, wetlands, lakes and waterways. This protected area will help conserve the Sackville River, the Pockwock watershed, which provides communities with drinking water, and recreation areas.
This week, Eby named his first cabinet as premier, with former energy and mines minister Bruce Ralston taking on forestry and Nathan Cullen replacing Josie Osborne as the minister for water, land and resource stewardship. The new ministry was put in place in February. The tone of the letters appears to usher in the type of science-based, holistic approach to conservation and biodiversity in the province that people like Wu have been asking for from the B.C. government. "We have seen the impacts of short-term thinking on the British Columbia land base — exhausted forests, poisoned water, and contaminated sites," wrote Eby is his mandate letter to Cullen.
For an Anishinaabe woman, water is life — and water had taken life away. “It was very emotional for me. I guess you can say I was a little bit angry at the water.” Then she realized that part of her healing journey must include this. She would organize Shining Water Paddle to bring prayers, offerings, blessings and songs to the water. They would honour the spirits, remember the ancestors and seek their guidance to protect this precious resource, this essence of First Nations peoples. It was time to make their voices heard — and for her to heal, too.
Volunteers and scientists are in the midst of a six-day "bio blitz" in Vancouver's False Creek, collecting water samples as an initial step toward cleaning up the inlet between Science World and English Bay. The project, running until Wednesday, is a collaboration between local non-profit False Creek Friends, scientists from the Hakai Institute coastal research centre, and the City of Vancouver.
This is the first of four articles submitted by Living Lakes Canada (LLC), the respected Columbia Basin-based water stewardship group that works to monitor and protect Canada’s lakes, rivers, wetlands, and watersheds. After a record-breaking summer of heat, drought, and fires, experts in the Columbia Basin are stressing the importance of water monitoring and watershed management to secure our water supplies.
The United States and Canada now have over 40 years of collaborative history in use of an ecosystem approach to protect and restore the Great Lakes. One of the best examples of this is the cleanup of Great Lakes pollution hot spots called Areas of Concern under the Canada-U.S. Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. A recently published U.S.-Canada study in the journal Sustainability sheds light on how and why institutional arrangements have changed over time to apply an ecosystem approach in restoring AOCs and to address emerging challenges in each local area.
“Through the Canada Water Agency, our government is looking to strengthen collaboration between the federal government, the provinces, territories, Indigenous peoples and other partners to find the best ways to safeguard our freshwater consultations are an important part of this process and I look forward to input from Canadians,” Terry Duguid said in a statement. Mr. Duguid is Parliamentary Secretary to Minister Wilkinson and has been key in the development process. The discussion paper, ‘Toward the Creation of a Canada Water Agency,’ presents key issues and provides an overview of the federal government’s existing activities to enhance freshwater management, and a virtual national freshwater policy forum is planned for January 27 and 28. A series of regional forums will be held in February that will provide additional opportunities to participate in consultations. The discussion paper and additional information can be found at placespeak.ca. Comments can be submitted until March 1.
