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

schools

Manitoba Government Launches Recognition Campaign for Schools and Child-care Centres Meeting National Lead in Drinking Water Guidelines

Manitoba Government Launches Recognition Campaign for Schools and Child-care Centres Meeting National Lead in Drinking Water Guidelines

Additionally, the Manitoba government is launching a lead in drinking water compliance recognition campaign, which identifies facilities that have been tested and demonstrate compliance with the national guideline for lead in drinking water. Schools and child-care centres that meet the national guideline for lead in drinking water will be recognized with a “certified lead tested” sticker. The sticker demonstrates a school or child-care centre’s commitment to safety and assures parents that steps have been taken to reduce exposure to lead in drinking water, the minister noted.

Lack of clean water in Nunavik means schools are closing, staff fleeing

Lack of clean water in Nunavik means schools are closing, staff fleeing

Dozens of employees at primary and secondary schools in Nunavik are sounding the alarm about the region's deteriorating water supply, saying the situation is putting their students at risk, a union report seen by Radio-Canada shows. Thirteen of the 14 towns in Nunavik don't have an aqueduct or sewer system. People there normally rely on tanker trucks to supply drinking water and remove wastewater. But in recent months there have been supply interruptions because of broken infrastructure, a lack of trucks and a worker shortage, problems that were worsened by the pandemic and a harsh winter last year.

Schools in Flint, Michigan have clean drinking water again thanks to The Elon Musk Foundation

Schools in Flint, Michigan have clean drinking water again thanks to The Elon Musk Foundation

Thanks to a donation from The Elon Musk Foundation, school students in Flint, Michigan have clean drinking water for the first time since 2016. A total of 136 hydrations were recently installed at 12 different Flint school buildings. One of the stations was unveiled at a special ceremony on Tuesday at the Flint Southwestern Academy. Fifteen of the 136 stations were installed at this school, which provides education to students in grades 8 through 12. The hydration stations were made possible through a $480,000 donation by The Elon Musk Foundation, which also provided $423,000 to buy laptops for middle school students.

Iqaluit’s water is contaminated: This is what it’s like for one teen

Iqaluit’s water is contaminated: This is what it’s like for one teen

Have you ever been told to turn off the tap while brushing your teeth because you’re “wasting water”? For a lot of Canadian kids, the supply of clean water might seem endless. You turn on your tap and it’s just there. But for more than a week now, people in Iqaluit, Nunavut, have not had it so easy when it comes to accessing safe drinking water. The city has been in a state of emergency since Oct. 12, with officials telling residents not to drink the city-supplied water because of a possible contamination.

Liberal MPs call on Ottawa to tackle ‘national public health crisis’ of lead in drinking water

Liberal MPs call on Ottawa to tackle ‘national public health crisis’ of lead in drinking water

A group of federal Liberal MPs are asking their government to invest up to $400 million to combat the “health crisis” of lead-contaminated drinking water which was exposed in communities across the country by a national investigation by 10 media outlets, including Global News and the Toronto Star. An open letter written by Hamilton MP Bob Bratina says the government “can and must” direct a portion of infrastructure spending designed to revitalize the post-COVID-19 economy into the “national public health crisis we face in the form of lead-contaminated drinking water.”

City of Regina says it plans to fast-track lead service replacement program

City of Regina says it plans to fast-track lead service replacement program

In light of a recent investigation that showed high levels of lead in the drinking water of some Regina homes, the city says it’s drafting a motion to fast-track its lead service connection replacement program. “It is definitely a problem and we are not minimizing anything here,” Mayor Michael Fougere said. “We want to make sure that we have the program accelerated so that [on] the city-side, our connections are done right away and at the same time we do the homeowners’ side as well.”

Children in schools and daycares across Canada are exposed to unsafe water

Children in schools and daycares across Canada are exposed to unsafe water

Many children in schools and daycares across Canada are likely being exposed to dangerous levels of lead in their drinking water and don’t know it, because most provinces aren’t requiring comprehensive testing at the taps, according to a collection of provincial studies and internal briefing material. The internal briefing material included memos and other advice prepared for high-ranking government officials in several provinces. These documents were released through freedom of information legislation to Global News as part of a joint year-long investigation into drinking water in partnership with Concordia University’s Institute for Investigative Journalism and other media organizations.

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