Canada's new minister of Indigenous services says she's considering what the new timeline should be to lift remaining long-term drinking-water advisories on First Nations. Patty Hajdu enters the role with 43 advisories still in place in 31 different communities mostly in Ontario, but also in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to end all drinking-water advisories by 2021 when the Liberals were swept to power in 2015.
‘They’re really struggling’: Inside the Neskantaga First Nation water crisis
When Chris Moonias woke up thirsty at 4 a.m. in his room at the Victoria Inn on a recent fall day, the first thing he did was look for a bottle of water. Though tap water was available in the bathroom, the Neskantaga First Nation chief grabbed his key, left his room, and walked to a nearby boardroom to find a bottle. He couldn’t bring himself to use the tap. His community has been under a 25-year boil-water advisory, Canada’s longest, and a distrust of running water, he says, has become pervasive among its members: “That’s the continued trauma. I'm not the only one that goes through this. If you go room to room here at the hotel, I guarantee you 100 per cent of those rooms have cases of bottled water.”