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

Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act

Amendments to come to federal legislation following First Nations input

Amendments to come to federal legislation following First Nations input

Within an Anishinabek News article from 2013, the author was concerned that word games were being used to extinguish Native rights. The Department of Justice experimented with various wording for non-derogation language for use in the 2015, Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act, which contradicts promises made to Indigenous peoples in the treaties. For example; “For greater certainty, nothing in this Act or the regulations is to be construed so as to abrogate or derogate from any existing Aboriginal or treaty rights of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, except to the extent necessary to ensure the safety of drinking water on First Nation lands.”

Feds announce $11B towards housing, reconciliation and residential school support

Feds announce $11B towards housing, reconciliation and residential school support

Clean drinking water Another omission from the 2022-2023 budget is the projected $8 billion payout as part of a class-action suit regarding long-term, on-reserve boil water advisories. But according to the budget, the overall drinking water situation is improving – despite missing their initial 2021 target to lift all long-term boil-water advisories in communities across Canada. Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) data indicates 131 long-term drinking water advisories have been lifted since 2015, and “initiatives are underway” to resolve the remaining 34. To this effect, the government is allocated $398 million over two years to ISC to “support community infrastructure on-reserve.” At least $247 million of this amount will be directed toward water and wastewater infrastructure, according to the budget outline.

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