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.
Taxpayers will find out in two months how much extra it will cost to fix the mechanical problems and lead-tainted water on board the navy’s new Arctic and offshore patrol ships. But Procurement Canada’s top bureaucrat has reassured parliamentarians that costs on the multi-billion vessels are coming down, despite figures showing the price tag actually jumped another $780 million over the past year.
When Carmela Patton moved into her Benton Harbor home from a nearby apartment complex, she didn’t think twice about turning on the faucet to boil noodles or get a drink. Only late last year, after her pastor recruited her to participate in a water quality sampling program, did she learn the city was in the midst of a water contamination crisis. Water samples from Benton Harbor homes since 2018 consistently revealed elevated levels of lead, a potent neurotoxin that damages the brain and nervous system and is particularly dangerous to young children.
In light of a recent investigation that showed high levels of lead in the drinking water of some Regina homes, the city says it’s drafting a motion to fast-track its lead service connection replacement program. “It is definitely a problem and we are not minimizing anything here,” Mayor Michael Fougere said. “We want to make sure that we have the program accelerated so that [on] the city-side, our connections are done right away and at the same time we do the homeowners’ side as well.”
