Nicole Hancock
Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony ...

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.

Indigenous community hosts full moon ceremony to heal Chedoke Creek

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Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI)

Canadian Environmental Sustainability Indicators (CESI)

The Freshwater Quality Indicator (WQI) provides an overall measure of the ability of freshwater bodies to support aquatic life at selected monitoring stations across Canada. It is a water quality guideline-driven tool used to distill large amounts of water quality data at a monitoring station into a single index. Water quality at a monitoring station is considered excellent when ambient water quality does not exceed guidelines at any time for any of all selected parameters. When water quality is rated poor, water quality measurements usually exceed their guideline; exceedences at these stations may be large.

Fight against toxic mining runoff from Canada persists, say U.S. Indigenous leaders

Fight against toxic mining runoff from Canada persists, say U.S. Indigenous leaders

U.S. Indigenous leaders from the Pacific Northwest say they won’t give up trying to convince Canada’s federal government to agree to a bilateral investigation of toxic mining runoff from the B.C. Interior. Representatives from several U.S. tribes were in D.C. Tuesday and Wednesday to meet with officials from the White House, the State Department and the Department of the Interior, as well as with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Canadians making progress on relying less on single-use plastics like straws and bags: StatCan

Canadians making progress on relying less on single-use plastics like straws and bags: StatCan

Canadians are making progress on moving away from single-use plastics by using fewer disposable straws and relying on reusable bags, water bottles and mugs, according to data from Statistics Canada. The new figures come from Statistics Canada's biennial Households and the Environment Survey, which questioned 38,000 households in 2021 on topics such as energy consumption and hazardous products used at home.

Government of Canada progress update on improving access to clean water in First Nations communities

Government of Canada progress update on improving access to clean water in First Nations communities

The Government of Canada and First Nations communities are working in partnership to build long-term solutions that support sustainable access to safe, clean drinking water and restore trust in the water supply. Today, Indigenous Services Canada provided an update on progress toward clean drinking water in all First Nations communities. As of July 6, 2021, 32 First Nations communities across Canada are working to resolve long-term drinking water advisories. In total, First Nations communities have lifted 108 long-term drinking water advisories restoring reliable access to safe drinking water for 6350 homes and 467 buildings in 79 communities since November 2015.

Ontario First Nations chief hails federal funding to end five long-term drinking water advisories

Ontario First Nations chief hails federal funding to end five long-term drinking water advisories

The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation is expanding its water system to deliver clean drinking water to hundreds of residents who have been grappling for more than a decade with seven drinking water advisories. The Bay of Quinte is on Lake Ontario and the First Nation is not remote or isolated. It’s just off Ontario’s Highway 401, between Toronto and Montreal. Chief R. Donald Maracle said his community has suffered from a lack of safe water since 2008, due to fecal, bacterial and algae contaminations. A regional drought made many groundwater wells go completely dry in 2017.

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