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

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Multi-million water system upgrade improves safety, quality for OKIB

Multi-million water system upgrade improves safety, quality for OKIB

The Okanagan Indian Band has completed a major upgrade to its water system. The Six Mile/Bradley Creek system has been improved by upgrading wells, expanding and updating the water treatment system, and doubling reservoir capacity. The system has also been connected to the band’s Irish Creek/Head of the Lake system, which received two new larger reservoirs and a control station. OKIB Public Works & Housing director Jolene Vincent says each reservoir has doubled its capacity, from 400 to 800 cubic square metres each. The community using the Six Mile system had been under a water advisory since May 2019 due to elevated manganese levels in its water. This meant it wasn't safe for pregnant women or children under two.

Poverty, safety and city services: Winnipeggers weigh in on what they want to see from the next mayor

Poverty, safety and city services: Winnipeggers weigh in on what they want to see from the next mayor

Head said he understands what it's like to live in poverty in Winnipeg — he has his whole life. He's frustrated that at his age, he's still been unable to escape it. He's been out of a job since mid-2021, and is still searching for one. The latest challenge he's facing is a water shutoff at the Furby Street house he currently rents. He and his roommate collect water in rain buckets to flush the toilet, and he has a hose attached to his neighbour's water line that allows him to use their water sparingly.

Salisbury trailer park residents under months-long boil water advisory

Salisbury trailer park residents under months-long boil water advisory

Over the last five months, Isabelle Couture has become accustomed to boiling pots of water on her stove, buying 18-litre jugs, and brushing her teeth with a water bottle. "I haven't felt very safe to drink it, because I don't know exactly what's going on," she said. She doesn't know what harmful substances have been detected — or when it will be safe to consume water again directly from the tap.

Natural gas for Europe can’t come at a cost to Indigenous Rights and safety in Nova Scotia

Natural gas for Europe can’t come at a cost to Indigenous Rights and safety in Nova Scotia

I am a grandmother, water protector and high school teacher from the Mi’kmaq Nation, in what is currently known as Nova Scotia, Canada. I have been working to protect our waters and lands from colonial control and dangerous resource extraction my whole life. When Europeans arrived in Mi’kmaq territory, we never ceded lands or accepted defeat, though for the last 450 years Canada has been constantly assaulting our people, invading our lands and communities and stealing our resources.

How to stay safe if your basement floods

How to stay safe if your basement floods

With all the rain being forecasted in the northeast over the next couple of days, Greater Sudbury Utilities wants you to know what to do if your basement floods. With 20 to 40 mm of rain expected to fall in northeastern Ontario by late Thursday morning, Environment Canada has issued a series of rainfall warnings for communities from Wawa to Kirkland Lake and Sault Ste. Marie to Mattawa.

Siren sounds in Fort Simpson, N.W.T., as water levels reach 15 metres

Siren sounds in Fort Simpson, N.W.T., as water levels reach 15 metres

The sirens sounded for a second time in Fort Simpson, N.W.T., just before 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, signalling that water levels along the Mackenzie River had reached 15 metres. That triggered a final evacuation order for people who live on the island, which is home to about sixty per cent of Simpson's 1,200 residents. Emergency operation support staff will now go door to door to help anyone needing transportation to the recreation centre, where people are asked to register before moving on.

How microbes could help clean up Nova Scotia's abandoned mines

How microbes could help clean up Nova Scotia's abandoned mines

Researchers from three Maritime universities are hoping microbes collected from the bottom of a lake near an abandoned gold mine in Dartmouth, N.S., will provide a model for how to clean up contaminated sites across the province in a quicker and less-intrusive way. Last May, a research team took a boat to the middle of Lake Charles, not far from the former Montague gold mine, where extensive mining took place from 1860 to about 1940.

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