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.
A recent court decision mandates billions of dollars be set aside to bring clean drinking water to a number of First Nations communities and to compensate community members who have lived for years under boil-water advisories and without access to clean water. In a joint decision, the Federal Court of Canada and Manitoba’s Court of Queen’s Bench approved an $8-billion settlement agreement.
One of Saskatchewan’s most far-flung settlements is inching closer to clean drinking water. Uranium City residents hope the promised improvements to the community’s water treatment plant are closer to reality, but progress is slow, noted Dean Classen, who is chair of the northern settlement’s board. In 2001, the provincial Water Security Agency handed a precautionary drinking water advisory to the small community near the Northwest Territories border. An emergency boil water advisory has been in place since 2015.
