Unnamed First Nation Found to Have Fecal Coliform in Drinking Water
A microbiologist says his team found fecal bacteria in drinking water on a Manitoba First Nation.
Doctor Ayush Kumar of the University of Manitoba says the water in every house that was tested, whether it came from the tap, a bucket or cistern, contained fecal coliform.
Health Canada says the maximum acceptable concentration of coliforms in water is none.
Kumar -- who has warned the unnamed community about his findings -- says some of the bacteria were antibiotic resistant, which he says puts residents' health at risk.
Until the problem can be fixed, Kumar says residents should boil their water.
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Parks Canada Removes Fee for Lower Fort Garry Sweat Lodges
There won't be a fee after all to take part in a sacred aboriginal ceremony at a historic site north of Winnipeg.
Lower Fort Garry plans to hold three sweat lodges this summer, an ancient ceremony performed by indigenous people in North America.
Parks Canada's website said that the ceremony would cost $60 per person.
But yesterday, the government department said it had re-evaluated and it won't cost anything to take part in the sweat lodge.
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More Fort Mac Residents to Return Home Today
Fort McMurray, Alberta is set today to welcome back a second wave of evacuees forced to flee their homes a month ago because of a wildfire.
About 7,500 people returned yesterday, and Premier Rachel Notley was there to welcome them back.
She also thanked first responders and crews who've been working to get the city running again -- including a bylaw officer who rescued a hamster weeks after the fire and called the pet's five-year-old owner with the good news.
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Senators Take Issue with Assisted Dying Bill
The federal government's assisted dying bill has shown up in the Senate -- and the initial reviews were far from glowing.
Some senators from all stripes panned the legislation yesterday as they grilled Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and Health Minister Jane Philpott for four hours in the upper chamber.
The most frequent objection concerned the government's insistence that only those who are near death will be eligible for medical assistance to end their lives -- which many senators say flies in the face of the Supreme Court ruling and the charter of rights.
The Senate has already said the bill won't be put to a vote by Monday's court-imposed deadline.
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Federal NDP Want to Change Voting Committee Member Makeup
New Democrats will introduce a motion in the Commons today in an effort to get the governing Liberals to change the makeup of the all-party committee that will study changes to the way Canadians vote.
The motion will call on the government to give up its majority of seats on the electoral reform committee, which will examine alternatives to the current first-past-the-post electoral system.
The NDP has accused the Liberals of stacking the deck by giving themselves a majority of the seats with voting rights.
The NDP is proposing the committee be made up of five Liberals, three Conservatives, two New Democrats, a Bloc MP, and Green party Leader Elizabeth May -- with everyone getting a vote.
