Water drop - It’s time to end drinking water advisories in First Nations! The number of First Nations houses without indoor plumbing in Canada has dropped from 3,500 in 2007 to 2,034 in 2017. Yet at any given time there are more than 100 drinking water advisories in First Nations across Canada. Trudeau’s Liberals benefited from record Indigenous voter turnout in 2015. One is that these plants tend to get less maintenance than they need.”. non-profit organization The Council of Canadians. February 4, 2020 — Ottawa, Traditional Algonquin Territory, Ontario — Indigenous Services Canada. Canada. 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Nearly half of the 133 First Nations in Ontario currently have boil water advisories and it's been more than 10 years since 10 First Nations in northwestern Ontario had clean drinking water. The Government of Canada and First Nations communities are working in partnership to improve water infrastructure on reserves and support access to safe, clean and reliable drinking water. Canada is one of the wealthiest and most water-rich countries in the world. The Council of Canadians fights for safe, clean water for everyone. Some First Nations don’t even have a water treatment plant, so they’re a higher priority for government funding. To understand how this system became so unequal and why First Nations receive less funding for clean water than neighbouring municipalities simply because they are regulated federally and not provincially, you have to go back to the beginning of Canada — to colonization. And water treatment plants need a lot of maintenance and technical know-how, says Emma Thompson, who did her masters research on water advisories in First Nations. A few days later, Eabametoong First Nation followed suit, its chief explaining the decision in a press release on July 15: “The discovery of high levels of trihalomethanes, combined with ongoing issues with our water and wastewater systems, has forced us to declare a state of emergency to protect the health of our community.”. From that, Ontario has approved $2.7 million in funding in 2017 towards drinking water projects in 91 First Nation communities. Out of Canada’s roughly 600 First Nations communities, about one in five are under drinking water advisories, including about 70 … Why some First Nations still don’t have clean drinking water — despite Trudeau’s promise. Many First Nations communities do not have access to safe drinking water because of a "discriminatory legal gap" in Canada, according to the new … That these communities are federally regulated stands out, Thompson says — and not in a good way. Can they again? READ MORE: Everyone in Canada has a right to clean drinking water. Year 1 progress toward resolving drinking water advisories in nine First Nations in Ontario, Report - On Notice for a Drinking Water Crisis in Canada. “There are a lot of systems across the country on First Nations reserves that are in poor shape that aren’t on a boil water advisory, and the risk scores reflect that,” says McClearn. Now, Six Nations has the treatment plant, Martin-Hill says, but people still live without clean drinking water because almost nobody has piping into their houses that can carry in the newly clean water. A Health Canada study from 1995-2007 found that a total of 162 advisories had been in effect for longer than one year. The government gave the community money for a treatment plant in 2014, but that was it — “no money to operate it,” she says. "Our water smells like raw sewage right now," says Gull, head of the water treatment program at Attawapiskat First Nation … During the Maclean’s leadership debate earlier this month, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said he would also end long-term boil water advisories, while Green Party leader Elizabeth May said her party would fulfill all “the requirements on the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the murdered missing Indigenous women’s inquiry.” NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has committed to lifting all drinking water advisories, not just long-term ones, by 2021. Many have made it clear the existing solutions are imperfect. We explain why this problem has persisted and what the Trudeau government is doing about it. Take action! As she said, she’s still hunting for answers. The reasons why water on First Nations isn’t potable varies, impacted by everything from the water’s origin to the pipes through which it flows to how remote the community is. Water, wastewater and stormwater projects in First Nation communities are eligible for the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund. Eabametoong declared a state of emergency after the water developed a “noticeable foul smell and taste,”however the community has been under a boil-water advisory for nearly two decades. In other words, only a small percentage of the population gets clean water — everyone else needs to buy big jugs of fresh water. The Trudeau government committed to ending these water advisories by 2021, but very little progress has been made and the needed funding has not been committed to end this crisis. Since 2015, Canadian officials have worked to eliminate drinking water advisories in First Nations reserves, lifting 87 long-term advisories through … “They didn’t put in roads, housing or infrastructure because they thought we were going to die out … they never thought we would still be here. However, that data has its limitations: it doesn’t include B.C. “Just because a community doesn’t have a boil water advisory doesn’t mean that they’re happy with their level of water service.”. At any given time, some 100 First Nations are under water advisories, according to non-profit organization The Council of Canadians. One of the side effects of this move was that Martin-Hill grew up with clean water that flowed easily from the tap. This is even more urgent as COVID-19 continues to spread globally. There is nothing more important than clean water, especially now in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. : 613-233-2773, 1-800-387-7177, Fax: 613-233-6776, inquiries@canadians.org. Yet at any given time there are more than 100 drinking water advisories in First Nations across Canada. Since November 2015, 133 short-term drinking water advisories (lasting between two and 12 months) have been lifted before becoming long-term. For most of us in Canada, out comes clean water. While boil-water … At any given time, some 100 First Nations are under water advisories, according to non-profit organization The Council of Canadians. Some of the … Martin-Hill grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., after her single mother fled Six Nations during the ’60s Scoop to avoid having her children taken from her and placed with non-Indigenous families. 1880 First Nations homes WITHOUT water services 15 years Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg went without clean water (1.5 hours away from the nation's capital) Two-thirds of First Nations have been under at least 1 water advisory between 2004 and 2014 Write or design a message to send to the Prime Minister. Long-term boil water advisories are currently in effect in 56 First Nations across Canada – something the federal Liberals have pledged to eliminate by 2021. With few options, Martin-Hill says the community took the money, built their “state-of-the-art treatment plant and said: ‘We’ll figure it out as we always do.’”, WATCH (2016): Human Rights Watch blasts inaction in providing safe water to First Nations communities. The lake provides all the drinking water for the city of Winnipeg but the people of Shoal Lake #40 have long been under a boil water advisory because the federal government has failed to replace the community's inadequate water treatment system. So why, despite the federal government’s pledge, do some First Nations still not have potable water, and what exactly needs to be done to get it to them? Lack of access to clean, safe drinking water in First Nations must be fixed for good. It is to our national shame that many First Nations communities still don’t have access to potable water. But many are given band-aid solutions that result in new short-term advisories. Clean-water access is an issue of living and breathing, she says, an issue of environmental concern and also an issue with deep historical roots. Canadian governments have spent many years and billions of dollars trying to make clean water flow from the taps on First Nations. In Attawapiskat‘s case, the government earmarked $1.5-million to repair an existing treatment plant and said there are plans for a second system. Ontario partnered with the federal government to provide $15 million in funding for on-reserve water projects. “It’s the most decentralized way to manage a drinking water system,” she says. or any of the territories. Canada’s new government should make addressing the lack of safe drinking water in many First Nations communities in Canada an urgent priority, Chiefs of Ontario and Human Rights Watch said today. Activists in northeastern Ontario fighting for safe, clean water in First Nations communities across Canada are getting tired of broken promises. Hundreds of water and wastewater infrastructure projects on reserves are underway across the country and completing these projects will lead to lifting more advisories as clean, reliable water is restored to First Nations communities. Therefore, Health Canada no longer reports drinking water advisories in BC First Nations. Anishinabe artist and writer Jay Odjick took to Twitter Monday to call out the lack of clean drinking water on many First Nations in Canada. Ten advisories have been lifted in the Kenora riding since the Liberals came to power: today, 16 of the 40 First Nations in the area have no access to clean water, down from 26. Greater control by and for First Nations over water is a basic step toward reconciliation, a requirement of  the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and a necessary precondition to ending drinking water advisories in First Nations for good. But in some places in this country, it’s not that simple, says Sheri Longboat. During the 2015 election campaign, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau promised to eliminate all long-term water advisories on First Nations by March 2021. “It’s a really complicated system … especially remote communities would struggle with that,” she says. Can the Liberals really end boil water advisories on First Nations by 2021? But try telling that to Mike Gull. Canada has more of it than almost any other country on Earth. Trudeau’s Liberals benefited from record Indigenous voter turnout in 2015. READ MORE: Today, 93 First Nations communities must boil their water for one minute before drinking or using it. “The risk scores can tell you about systems that have problems that are not on boil water advisories yet,” McClearn says. “There are a lot of consequences that come along with that. Suspending water quality monitoring: oversight or disaster capitalism? Celebrating 10 years of the human right to water, COVID-19 puts the human right to water front and centre, Attawapiskat water crisis another failure by federal government to provide safe water to First Nations, Factsheet: Why Canada needs a National Water Policy, Report: Glass half empty? We’ve got almost a fifth of the world’s fresh water, yet many Canadian households don’t have access to it. READ MORE: The lack of clean, safe drinking water in First Nations is one of the greatest violations of the UN-recognized human rights to water and sanitation. 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