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.
People in Ottawa's Barrhaven neighbourhood say their tap water appears milky — and even fizzy — but city experts say the water is regularly tested and is perfectly fine to drink. Julie Paquette, a Barrhaven resident, recently started to wonder why she wasn't able see through her glass of water from her kitchen faucet. But it was a query from a Grade 6 student at the school she worked at that made her search for answers.
