North Bay's Canadore College has received $750,000 from FedNor to build an Indigenous clean water learning lodge. The lodge will be a testing ground for water treatment technology, and will also apply Indigenous knowledge around conservation. The funding announcement was part of a $2.8-million investment to support four initiatives at the northern Ontario college.
How colonial systems have left some First Nations without drinking water
Rebecca Zagozewski, executive director of the Saskatchewan First Nations Water Association, said she has seen contractors save on costs when building water treatment plants on reserves by using obsolete parts and failing to include maintenance manuals, ventilation or chemical rooms, and bathrooms. “Engineering companies will put in their bids obviously as low as they can go,” said Zagozewski.