source water

Ottawa tables long-awaited bill to improve, protect First Nations water quality

Ottawa tables long-awaited bill to improve, protect First Nations water quality

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.

Winnipeg's drinking water source of frustration for northern Ontario Indigenous community

Winnipeg's drinking water source of frustration for northern Ontario Indigenous community

About 100 million litres of fresh water flows west to the city of Winnipeg every day but the struggling Indigenous people who live on the shores of Shoal Lake say no benefits have ever flowed east to them. Compensation is decades overdue, they say, and they're now hoping favourable developments in their $500-million lawsuit against the city and the province of Ontario will tilt the odds their way.

First Nations workers in Sask. sacrifice wages, vacation to run underfunded water systems

First Nations workers in Sask. sacrifice wages, vacation to run underfunded water systems

Rebecca Zagozewski is the executive director of the Saskatchewan First Nations Water Association, a non-profit organization that works to build First Nations’ capacity to take care and control of their own water services. She says recruitment and retention of water treatment plant operators is a “real problem” on Saskatchewan First Nations, largely because they often can’t pay operators competitive wages.