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 water has receded and fans are blowing around the clock in Christina Beeusaert's East St. Paul basement. Her belongings are stacked to the ceiling and like many Manitobans, she is waiting to learn just how much the water damage will cost her. "It depends, once they start ripping the other room apart, how much water damage there is behind the walls and that," she told CBC News.