Two centuries on the Red. Now it's poisoning Lake Winnipeg.

Lake Winnipeg isn't dying on its own. It's being poisoned. It was named the most threatened lake in the world in 2013 by the Global Nature Fund, and the phosphorus loading has still not meaningfully declined. Phosphorus and nitrogen pour in through the Red River from agricultural runoff and wastewater. The highest concentrations hit the south basin near the river's mouth — the Red is the single biggest pipe feeding nutrients into the lake. The result: massive, toxic algal blooms that kill fish, threaten the fishery, and make the water unsafe to swim in.

Raw sewage spills into the river regularly. The 2024 Fort Garry Bridge pipe failure dumped 230 million litres. The 2002 North End plant failure dumped 427 million litres — still the largest on record. Winnipeg's sewage system overflows constantly, releasing billions of litres into the rivers that feed the lake.

Macro-debris — cars, tires, shopping carts, mattresses — sits on the riverbed, leaking motor oil, battery acid, heavy metals, and microplastics as it breaks down. We've pulled pushing 10 cars out of the river recently. Working alongside Submerged Underwater Services, we even recovered a stolen Toyota near Netley Creek that had been sitting at the bottom for almost two years, still full of mud, debris, and a purse. If we don't pull it out now, it breaks down. And once it breaks down, you can't get it out.

The Red and the Assiniboine were the highways my ancestors built this country on — cart trails, trade routes, fishing grounds, family. The infinity on our flag is two cultures joined together. The two rivers meeting at The Forks are the same idea, just older.

My name's R.J. I'm Métis, born and raised in Winnipeg. I started Red River Revival because nobody else was going to. I've watched the City dump sewage into these rivers and call it an accident. I've watched the Province set phosphorus targets and miss them, year after year.

Our board includes Ken Larson, CEO of Princess Auto. Trevor Nott, Métis owner and president of Nott Auto. Genico Aiello, social enterprise consultant. People who believe Manitoba can do better, and are willing to put their names on it.

Lake Winnipeg is huge, of course. The problems are massive. But saving it starts right here in the river. "We know there's all kinds of things down at the bottom we're going to find," as I told CityNews. "We've removed things from the river like barber chairs. Microwaves, stoves, fridges and mattresses... we just want it all out. We want to leave our community better than what we found it."

We built our own program. A landing craft with a one-tonne crane. Surface barriers at the tributaries to catch smaller debris before it hits the main river. A community hotline so anybody in Winnipeg can call us when they see something on the shore — and we'll come deal with it.

When the river freezes, we don't stop. Snowmobiles, augers, chainsaws. We work the shorelines and the ice-fishing zones all winter long.

Every person on our crew is Métis or Indigenous. Some of them came to us straight out of jail, looking for work, looking for something that meant something. So that's what we do — real wages, real work, on a river that means something.

The river takes care of us, we take care of it, we take care of each other. That's the loop.