Kristen Villebrun and Wendy Bush hoped they wouldn't have to pray for Chedoke Creek, but four years after they first raised alarm about the water's condition, they were part of an Indigenous full moon ceremony to do just that. About 50 people showed up near Princess Point on the dark and frigid Monday evening for the monthly ceremony, which was particularly special as it focused on Chedoke Creek. The body of water that runs into Cootes Paradise had about 24 billion litres of sewage and storm water runoff leak into it due to a gate being left open.
Thousands of residents of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., who have been without running water since Monday after a major water-main break, were beginning to get it back on Friday morning. The city warned residents to boil the water for one minute before consuming it and to delay running appliances that use lots of water to avoid overloading the newly repaired pipe.
Back in February 2022, three people were killed in a house fire in a Northern Manitoba community. Chief David Monias of Pimicikamak Cree Nation says the federal government should provide more funding to First Nations to have the capacity to fight fires, including fire halls, proper running water and better support for firefighters. “Many First Nations don’t have a fire truck even or running water in some cases. To implement a code is really difficult across the board when there are so many concerns on reserve already.”
Residents of Mississippi's capital are ending the year unable to count on clean running water in their homes after a freezing winter storm brought a fresh crisis to Jackson's beleaguered water infrastructure. Residents of the majority-Black city say their main water treatment plant has been poorly maintained and funded for years. In August, its pumps failed entirely, overwhelmed by historic flooding along the Pearl River, cutting off running water entirely for Jackson's 150,000 residents and about 30,000 people in the surrounding area.
Dozens of employees at primary and secondary schools in Nunavik are sounding the alarm about the region's deteriorating water supply, saying the situation is putting their students at risk, a union report seen by Radio-Canada shows. Thirteen of the 14 towns in Nunavik don't have an aqueduct or sewer system. People there normally rely on tanker trucks to supply drinking water and remove wastewater. But in recent months there have been supply interruptions because of broken infrastructure, a lack of trucks and a worker shortage, problems that were worsened by the pandemic and a harsh winter last year.
Just two hours outside Toronto, more than 2,000 households on Six Nations of the Grand River live without a basic human right: clean water. Some residents can’t simply fill up a glass at their taps and drink, take a shower, or bathe their children without worrying about the water being contaminated. “We’re doing our best to progress our community as best as we can. But there comes challenges,” said Chief Mark Hill. “One of those challenges is the access to clean drinking water, potable water.”
For as long as she’s been alive, Chief Emily Whetung of Curve Lake First Nation says her community has been without clean, running water. “When you live in a place where you have reliable clean drinking water, you put your child in the bathtub and they play around, and they splash, and you don’t worry about it. When you live in a community that has constant water problems, you sit beside your child the entire time and make sure their face doesn’t go in the water,” said Whetung, who added the water is not only unsafe to sip but can be unsafe to the touch. “Many families in my community and others have to watch for skin conditions.”
Gordie Hanna says the last week highlighted to them that we really do take the convenience of tap water for granted. The Cambridge resident tells 570 NEWS that the other takeaway was "that people shouldn't have to do this in Canada ... anywhere." He figures they went through 130 litres of water in seven days. Hanna says "We didn't realize just how much we use, and how much we enjoy the quick and easy convenience," of turning on the tap and getting warm water for things like doing dishes.
‘Water sustains us, flows between us, within us, and replenishes us. Water is the giver of all life, and, without clean water, all life will perish.’—Assembly of First Nations “No human being, no animal or plant, can live without its water,” says Dawn Martin-Hill, co-founder of the Indigenous Studies program at Hamilton’s McMaster University. For centuries, the Unist’ot’en people have called Wet’suwet’en territory in British Columbia home. Their way of life is such that they can drink straight from the pristine Morice River (Wedzin Kwah) that flows through their land. Last year, construction began on the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline, posing a direct threat to the Morice. “We call it sweet water,” said Martin-Hill. “We had that everywhere. We had it here in Ontario.” “You know it when you’re drinking it. I’d rather have sweet water over running water.”
Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller has overruled a senior departmental official over the framing of an investigation into Neskantaga First Nation's 25-year-long water crisis, CBC News has learned. Anne Scotton, the department's Ontario regional director general, informed Neskantaga Chief Chris Moonias on Thursday afternoon by email that the terms of reference for the investigation would be finalized soon, and that a consultant had been chosen to manage the third-party probe. There was a line in the attached document for the chief's signature.
A week after the evacuation of a remote First Nation in northwestern Ontario, First Nations leaders say there is still no plan to restore running water to the community. It's possible evacuees may not be able to return to Neskantaga this winter, Mamakwa said. "Especially during a pandemic, to see the continued complacency of government, in 2020, in Ontario, in Canada, you can see how racism affects this community," Mamakwa said. That racism costs lives, he added, noting that a 23-year-old woman died by suicide in Neskantaga last year, without ever having tasted clean water from the tap in her home.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared to walk back his government’s promise to end all water-boil advisories in First Nations communities by March 2021. Pressed by reporters Friday, Trudeau wouldn’t commit to meeting the 2021 deadline and said the federal government was working to lift the remaining drinking water advisories “as soon as possible.”
Eabametoong First Nation, an Ojibway community that sits about 360 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, passed a band council resolution declaring a state of emergency Friday after water test results showed levels of trihalomethanes (THMs) between 122 to 182 per cent above Health Canada safety standards.
Yesno said residents are also reporting a foul smell coming from the community's tap water.
