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Latest news about the Safe Drinking Water Team
The Liberal government tabled much-anticipated legislation Monday that aims to improve water quality in First Nations communities, improve collaboration on water protection and codify a new First Nations-led commission. The long-promised bill, which Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu is touting as the result of immense collaboration and knowledge-sharing, would apply a new framework for source water, drinking water, wastewater and related infrastructure on First Nations land.
Peltier says world leaders are always shocked and surprised when they hear her describe the water situation for First Nations in Canada. She says Canada is viewed by the outside world as a safe, rich country but feels First Nations people are treated like “animals.” Peltier says it seems to be ok for First Nations to go 20 years without clean drinking water but if that were to happen in any Canadian city, it would result in a state of emergency, that would be handled quickly.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his Liberal government remains committed to ending all long-term drinking water advisories that exist on First Nations, despite not setting a new date to do so. Trudeau discussed the work done up to now on the issue during an address Thursday to a virtual gathering of chiefs with the Assembly of First Nations (AFN). To date, he says, the Liberals have helped lift 120 long-term drinking water advisories. A government website reports there are 42 such advisories still in place in 30 different communities.
Trudeau also promised to end all boil water advisories in indigenous communities by 2020. Fifty-one advisories are still in effect in 32 communities, while 108 have been lifted since 2015, according to official data. "There hasn't been any meaningful progress on their watch" on indigenous issues, said Frank Graves, president of polling company EKOS Research, leaving Trudeau "somewhat exposed" politically.
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) is frustrated after hearing the federal government is delaying its plan to remove all long-term water advisories in First Nations communities. It comes after a report to a House of Commons committee noted that the government’s initial target of 2021 wasn’t feasible and are pushing that deadline back to 2026 while offering communities temporary measures to ensure tap water is safe to drink.
Indigenous Services Canada doesn’t expect to resolve all long-term drinking water advisories on reserves until at least 2023 — and may not have long-term solutions in place until 2026 — according to an action plan provided to the House public accounts committee. Christiane Fox, deputy minister of Indigenous Services, declined to provide the committee with a firm deadline during her testimony on Thursday.
The federal government has not done enough to ensure people in First Nations communities have reliable access to safe drinking water, says the federal auditor general. In an audit report tabled in Parliament today, Auditor General Karen Hogan said many First Nations will continue to live without access to clean water without long-term solutions to address deficiencies in their water systems. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau committed during the 2015 election to eliminating all long-term drinking water advisories on public water systems on First Nations reserves by March 31, 2021.
Activists in northeastern Ontario fighting for safe, clean water in First Nations communities across Canada are getting tired of broken promises. After five years and millions in spending, the Liberal government announced in early December that it would not fulfill its commitment to end all long-term water advisories on reserves by March 2021. Although some progress has been made – 97 advisories have been lifted since November 2015 – there’s still a long way to go. There are 59 active long-term water advisories in 41 communities across the country, and activists maintain that clean water should be a priority for the federal government, especially during a global pandemic. “Water is a basic human right, and nobody should have to beg for it. This is wrong, and it’s come to the point where I think it comes down to racism,” said Autumn Peltier, a teenage water-rights activist from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island.
Another factor in the chief's decision is the fact that the plant still isn't running at capacity. It's designed to produce 3.8 litres of water per second for each of its two treatment lines, but the most it can produce now is less than three litres, according to project progress reports obtained by CBC News. "The amount would still meet the [community's] need," said Lalita Bharadwaj, a professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Saskatchewan who studies access to safe drinking water in First Nations. "But it raises concerns about the sustainability of the system, and operations and management of the system." Bharadwaj said there should be four operators working at the plant — two who are certified and two others from the local community who can receive training, which she said could take years.
The Trudeau government has helped lift 97 long-term drinking water advisories in First Nations since 2015, according to Indigenous Services Canada. Currently, 59 advisories are still in place in 41 communities. Since forming government, the Liberals have spent more than $1.65 billion of the $2.19 billion they set aside to build and repair water and wastewater infrastructure, and to manage and maintain existing systems on reserves. The $1.5 billion proposed in Monday's fiscal update is in addition to that $2.19 billion.
