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.
It's probably not how you'd draw up the optimal water intake system. But when a pump at the Fort Providence, N.W.T., water treatment plant broke down in mid-December, local mechanic Cameron Sapp figured his decommissioned fire truck could fill in to do the job. "They come to me looking for a way to pump water," said Sapp, after hamlet crews had struggled to keep up with local water demand for about a week or so. "I gave them a few ideas."
