policies

NDP prepared to withhold votes in Parliament, including on the Liberal budget: Singh

NDP prepared to withhold votes in Parliament, including on the Liberal budget: Singh

The "concrete action" Singh is demanding includes guaranteed paid sick leave for workers and a halt to clawbacks of financial supports for low-income pensioners who collected pandemic benefits. Ensuring Indigenous communities have clean, safe drinking water is another priority.

How colonial systems have left some First Nations without drinking water

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.

Former Neskantaga contractor accused of cutting corners in other First Nations

Former Neskantaga contractor accused of cutting corners in other First Nations

“They cut corners every day, every day,” said Justin Gee, vice-president of First Nations Engineering Services Ltd. Gee said he encountered these recurring problems while overseeing the work of a construction firm, Kingdom Construction Limited (KCL), building a water treatment plant 10 years ago in Wasauksing First Nation, along the eastern shore of Georgian Bay, about 250 kilometres north of Toronto. “You have to be on them every step of the way,” said Gee, who was the contract administrator on the project. “You can’t leave them on their own.”

Measures to stop spread of COVID-19 in First Nations limited by lack of infrastructure: report

Measures to stop spread of COVID-19 in First Nations limited by lack of infrastructure: report

Suggested measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 won't be effective in remote Manitoba First Nations unless housing conditions and access to clean water are improved, says a new report. "Asking people to wash their hands and isolate in overcrowded homes without running water is like asking people unable to afford bread to eat cake," reads the report, released Wednesday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).