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.
In 2018, faced with a rise in toxic algal blooms that threatened the health of Lake Erie, Ottawa and Queen’s Park released the Canada-Ontario Lake Erie Action Plan, pledging to reduce levels of phosphorus in the lake by 40 per cent within seven years. Since then, says Michelle Woodhouse, water program manager with Environmental Defence, little has happened.
