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

water tanks

No timeline for bringing water treatment online in Iqaluit

No timeline for bringing water treatment online in Iqaluit

City of Iqaluit officials won’t venture any guesses as to when the water treatment plant will be back online. “I can’t even estimate at this point in time,” Coun. Kyle Sheppard said. The plant was shut down Wednesday to allow staff to inspect the facility to find the source of recurring fuel contamination of the city’s water supply. Nunavut’s Health Department put a boil water advisory into effect shortly afterwards. The city is currently pumping water from the Lake Geraldine reservoir through a bypass pipe that avoids contact with the tanks at the treatment plant. City spokesperson Stephanie Clark similarly said she couldn’t offer a timeline for when the water treatment plant will be working again.

The fire truck that's keeping this N.W.T. community's taps running

The fire truck that's keeping this N.W.T. community's taps running

It's probably not how you'd draw up the optimal water intake system. But when a pump at the Fort Providence, N.W.T., water treatment plant broke down in mid-December, local mechanic Cameron Sapp figured his decommissioned fire truck could fill in to do the job. "They come to me looking for a way to pump water," said Sapp, after hamlet crews had struggled to keep up with local water demand for about a week or so. "I gave them a few ideas."

City of Iqaluit votes to offer blanket rebate on water bills

City of Iqaluit votes to offer blanket rebate on water bills

Iqaluit's city council voted unanimously Tuesday to provide a water rebate for residents. Nearly 8,000 residents were ordered not to drink the tap water when fuel was discovered in one of the city's two water tanks at its water treatment plant earlier this month. The 100 per cent rebate was proposed by Mayor Kenny Bell. It will cost the city over $965,000 in revenue for the month of October.

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