Lack of clean water in First Nations communities should come as no surprise

National Post, 17 December 2020

Clean drinking water in Canada is not hard to get. What might be the difference for Indigenous-Canadians?

The federal government will not eliminate all boil-water advisories on Indigenous reserves by March 2021, as promised in 2016. The government claims that 97 advisories have been lifted, but 59 remain. Why might that be?

Racism? Perhaps, but given that the Trudeau government — from the prime minister on down — has repeatedly said that Indigenous matters are its top priority, it would be difficult to explain boil-water advisories in 2020 as the result of a racist government.

Lack of resources? Since 2016, the federal government has allocated $2.19 billion for water on reserves, and announced another $1.5 billion this month.

The Post’s editorial over the weekend called the continuing lack of potable water on reserves a “stain on our national character.” What might be required to cleanse that stain, given that goodwill and plenty of money don’t seem to be sufficient?

Consider what non-Indigenous Canadians do. I live in a rural area. There is no municipal water service. Attempts to drill a well were unsuccessful when the parish house was built 40 years ago. So the parishioners installed a cistern in the basement to collect rainwater and snow melt — an environmentally friendly measure built decades before such things were trendy.

There are millions of Canadians who live in rural areas where there is no municipal water connection. They check out water options before they buy or build, and find solutions that they can afford. It is quite common, actually. Clean drinking water in Canada is not hard to get.

What might be the difference for Indigenous-Canadians? It must be that they are so remote. A cistern system requires a water truck to be available to make deliveries when and if it ever runs dry. How would that work at the ends of the earth?

As the Post’s editorial put it, “Many of these projects present unique challenges. Heavy equipment can only get into some remote villages by ice roads that are only accessible for short periods. Others sit on beds of granite, which is incredibly costly to tunnel through. Many are in remote areas of the country where contractors are in short supply.”

Perhaps. But consider the Wahta Mohawk First Nation in Ontario, for which five years and $2 billion were not sufficient to get the job done. There are 200 people on the reserve, which is so remote that a major freeway runs through it.

Continue reading at the National Post.