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.
As people on Vale Island fled their homes and drove south to escape floodwaters from the Hay River, they left more behind than just their houses. Some left their pets, thinking they could return to collect them. Those plans vanished when water closed off the highway. At a community town hall meeting on Tuesday, Hay River, N.W.T., Mayor Kandis Jameson said the town is aware pets are stranded on the island and they are trying to find a way to rescue them.
Federal Indigenous Services minister Marc Miller visited the Semiahmoo First Nation Wednesday (July 28) to help celebrate the nation’s removal from a boil water advisory in place since 2005. But it was also an opportunity to acknowledge, after discussion with SFN councillors, that much work still has to be done, he said. Miller told Peace Arch News that the federal government must continue to play a role in SFN infrastructure projects that may take as much as a decade to achieve.
