Would you swim in the North Saskatchewan River?

At a meeting of my moms & tots group mum A said she’d take her child fishing because that’s what she used to do growing up in a small village in Alberta. Living in Edmonton now they fish in the North Saskatchewan River but they always release their catch and never eat the fish. They think the river is too polluted. Nobody swims in it either here. I mention this because living in Basel, Switzerland I noticed that residents swam in the Rhine that goes right through town. It’s legal and safe and fun. I tried it. There’s even an official river swim event once a year where hundreds of people take to the water and swim together through town. Since you usually do not return swimming to where you started you can buy a waterproof bag for your clothes that will float along with you.

Mom B then mentioned that her parents had a cottage at Wabamum Lake that used to be busy with fishing and recreational activities. But things have changed since the oil spill in August 2005 when a Canadian National Freight train derailed losing up to 1.3 million litres of heavy bunk oil. Over 700,000 litres are estimated to have flown into the lake. In addition, “hazardous chemicals” escaped as well but lake residents weren’t told until 4 days after the incident. Since the oil spill the consumption of fish has been limited; actually one should not consider eating the fish at all. CN was fined and ordered to clean up. That alone does not do the trick though! Money and more chemicals will certainly not “clean” the lake up to its previous beauty.

Talking with members of Edmonton’s Newcomers Club I hear again and again how dirty the lakes are in Alberta, unlike BC and Saskatchewan (and excluding the lakes in the national parks). Wonder why? I’m not 100% sure but I bet it’s got to do with oil drilling and coal mining and everything that comes with these dirty fossil fuels.