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.
The federal government is providing bottled water and mental health services to First Nations struggling to deal with a spill from a tar sands tailings pond that went unreported for months in northern Alberta. “They’re devastated and their communities are devastated,” Indigenous Services Canada Minister Patty Hajdu said at a press conference in Ottawa on Monday. “They’re afraid that the water is contaminated.
