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Latest news about the Safe Drinking Water Team
Mistreatment of Innu people by colonial governments continues today, said an elder and activist who has fought for decades to protect the Innu's traditional culture and land in Labrador. "I will start on how we have been treated by the white man, and the treatment is still ongoing today," said Tshaukuesh (Elizabeth) Penashue, on Thursday when she began her testimony at an inquiry examining how Innu children and families have been affected by the child protection system.
A high school student from a First Nation in northern Saskatchewan is representing Indigenous communities on the world stage. Sean Bernard, a Grade 12 student from Waterhen Lake First Nation, about 290 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon, is in Egypt this week to attend COP27, the United Nations Climate Change Conference. Bernard is a youth delegate, representing the youth of the world as well as Indigenous communities across North America.
Autumn was only 12 years old in 2016 when she met with PM Justin Trudeau to address his unfulfilled promise to "protect the water". Since then, she remains vocal on the global stage and at home to advocate for clean drinking water. As the Chief Water Commissioner for Anishinabek Nation in Ontario, Autumn is an outstanding example of what youth are capable of as today's leaders, and the immense impact can achieve.
A Canada-wide Indigenous water initiative is providing young people with an opportunity to tackle water problems in their communities. According to Kimberly Brown, a Tsimshian water engineer in training and a member of the Lax Kw’alaams Band in British Columbia, the goal of the challenge is ” to create Indigenous youth who want to become water engineers or scientists…” “It’s just the opportunity for eight communities to participate and solve their own water issues, and it’s judged by their own communities not sure, so it’s very Indigenous-led and Indigenous supported.”
Unsolved environmental problems, a national mandate to uphold treaty responsibilities and a new appreciation for positive treaty relationships are leading some water researchers to consider new approaches to their work. They are examining how water monitoring practices that are conventionally considered strong, can be improved. Recent research examined how water quality monitoring in the lower Grand River and nearby Lake Erie can inform management to address prolific growth of nuisance algae. Nuisance algae affect wildlife habitats and fishing, as well as swimming and boating. This work is part of the Lake Futures Group at the University of Waterloo and Global Water Futures, Canada’s largest water research collaboration.
“I had so many questions.” Such as: If the river has poop in it from nearby houses, how many houses? Bowles collected and analyzed water samples, running them through a filter funnel and putting the filter on an enterococci testing card. After 36 hours in an incubator, the colonies of fecal bacteria on the card turn blue. Bowles counted the blue dots. The results revealed levels of fecal contamination above Canada’s federal standards for swimming or boating. Among those sailing the LaHave waters at the time was Bowles’ little brother. Conrad chimed in, “You were mortified.”
