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.
Investment enables water, electricity, and broadband connections for community growth, housing and commercial space The Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) and Netmizaaggamig Nishnaabeg (formerly Pic Mobert First Nation) have finalized their agreement for the CIB to lend $7.9 million towards critical infrastructure required for commercial and residential development that will improve living standards on reserve.
"Our members don't have adequate access to clean water for basic hygiene and safety purposes, which is essential to preventing the spread of COVID-19 in our community," McDonald said. "At this point, we are experiencing an incredible strain on our essential staff, from our delivery drivers to our health-care staff who may have been in direct contact with the positive cases." She said 37 positive cases have been identified and 207 people were considered direct contacts with these people as of Monday. There are about 1,000 people living on reserve, meaning at least one-quarter of the membership are directly affected by the illness or by self-monitoring, according to the news release.
