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.
Luis Ramirez leapt onto the roof of his bright blue water truck to fill the plastic tank that by day’s end would empty into an assortment of buckets, barrels and cisterns in 100 homes. It was barely 11 a.m. and Ramirez had many more stops to make on the hilly, grey fringes of Tijuana, a sprawling, industrial border city in northwestern Mexico where trucks or “pipas” like Ramirez’s provide the only drinking water for many people.
The Hamlet of Fort McPherson, N.W.T., declared a state of emergency over flooding on Tuesday evening. In a post on Facebook, the hamlet said it made the decision because flooding from the Peel River had cut off access to the community's airport and because access to fresh water could be "inaccessible in the imminent future." Earlier in the day, the hamlet said an emergency would be declared once flooding cut off the community's access to Deep Water Lake — meaning it would no longer have access to its water or sewage services.
The statement said firefighters, police and community members acted quickly to try to help but the house was already engulfed in flames. Only one water truck was available to feed the fire truck, according to the statement, along with a lack of adequate water lines and infrastructure preventing the use of fire hydrants. "Our volunteers did all they could do with what they had," Chief Delores Kakegamic said in a statement. "We should have the same level of support as anyone else in Canada. Lives are at stake." The Office of the Fire Marshal, along with the Ontario Coroner's Office and Nishnawbe Aski Police Service, are investigating the fire. Sandy Lake is roughly 600 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay.
The Canadian Armed Forces is now providing potable water in Iqaluit amid its ongoing water contamination crisis. The city has been under a state of emergency since Oct. 12, when staff confirmed evidence of fuel contamination in the city's treated water supply. Residents were told the water is unsafe to drink, even if filtered or boiled. The CAF is using mobile water treatment units to treat water from the Sylvia Grinnell River using reverse osmosis. It then transfers potable water to a designated city water truck that carries it to water filling depots at the Arctic Winter Games and the library parking lots.
When the prime minister addressed on-reserve water advisories in last week’s English leaders’ debate, he made it sound like the water issue was well in hand. The casual way that Canadians all the way up to and including the prime minister talk about First Nations water issues shows that the country still does not get it. Even in the unlikely event that all water advisories are lifted, First Nations people will still be struggling to access this necessity of life.
A potential arson took place at the Moose Lake Water Treatment Plant in Moose Lake, Man., on Saturday, July 24, RCMP say. Smoke and flames were spotted on the south side of the building when police arrived. The fire was extinguished by the Moose Lake Fire Department. Though the treatment plant itself was not affected, the fire damaged the building and the water truck parked inside. Community members on the main water line did not lose water, say RCMP.
