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.
After its acclaimed debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2020, The Water Walker, which followers the Anishinaabe Indigenous rights advocate Autumn Peltier on a journey to speak in front of the United Nations, has been picked up by HBO Canada and will be available to stream on Crave in April. At only 17, Peltier has over 100,000 Instagram followers and has spoken to prominent world leaders while advocating for safe and easy access to water as a fundamental human right.
The Trudeau government has helped lift 97 long-term drinking water advisories in First Nations since 2015, according to Indigenous Services Canada. Currently, 59 advisories are still in place in 41 communities. Since forming government, the Liberals have spent more than $1.65 billion of the $2.19 billion they set aside to build and repair water and wastewater infrastructure, and to manage and maintain existing systems on reserves. The $1.5 billion proposed in Monday's fiscal update is in addition to that $2.19 billion.
