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.
There is currently no timeline for the restoration of water service at Wabaseemoong Independent Nations after accidental contamination forced the northwestern Ontario community's water supply to be shut off last month. The shutdown occurred on Dec. 23, after a water pipe burst in the building that houses the community's water reservoir, leading to a flood, said Curtis Bergeron, director of strategic water management with Indigenous Services Canada.
Halifax Water hopes at least part of a sewer project can be completed within the next six weeks — even though the timeline is partly why the cost has more than doubled. New pipes are needed along sections of South Park Street and University Avenue to the end of Cathedral Lane. The work was originally supposed to be done in 2020. The wait for funding approval delayed construction until 2021.
The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government would need to increase planned spending to provide clean drinking water in First Nations. Yves Giroux’s report this morning says the government has set aside enough money to build water and wastewater systems over the next five years. Where the government falls short is to help First Nations operate the systems, which Giroux’s office estimates would need $138 million more annually in federal funding.
A city report is recommending a timeline of 15 years and a budget of $36 million to replace all the lead water service connections in Regina. The report is going before the operations and services committee Wednesday afternoon. It says all the pipes would be done by 2036 if the committee, then city council, approves the timeline. "Honestly, this is long overdue," said Ward 3 Councillor Andrew Stevens. Twenty per cent of the lead pipes are in his ward in the Cathedral neighbourhood.
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.
