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.
An investment by the Province will help improve and ensure access to clean water for people in Port Hawkesbury. The $1.1 million in funding to upgrade the water supply and distribution system will provide a new above ground building and associated equipment, replacing the Pitt Street water tower and the existing pressure reducing valve vault on MacDonald Street.
Water is an extremely important part of Indigenous culture which makes the fact that 27 Indigenous communities across Canada are living with a boil water advisory while countless others struggle for access to clean water that much more devastating. “Water is very important to Indigenous people,” Beverley Maracle, a resident of Six Nations of the Grand River, told CityNews. “Water is medicine to Indigenous people and we need water for life. So water is life.”
Africville was known as a thriving community, with a school, a church and local stores, though homes in the area lacked sewage systems and access to clean water. It was in the late 1940s when it was designated "industrial land," leading to the development of an infectious disease hospital and a prison in the community. The city dump was also relocated near Africville in the 1950s.
Anishinabek Nation Chief Water Commissioner Autumn Peltier stressed that no child should have to go without access to clean water during her Feb. 16 address at the virtual Assembly of First Nations (AFN) 5th Annual Water Symposium. The Feb. 15-17 symposium also featured opening remarks by Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare and a Panel Presentation on the Class Action Litigation on Drinking Water Advisories in First Nations that included Curve Lake Chief Emily Whetung.
First Nations communities, with support from the Government of Canada, continue to make significant progress in ending all long-term drinking water advisories on reserve and building sustainable solutions to support access to safe, clean drinking water now and into the future. Today, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) provided an update on the progress toward clean drinking water in all First Nations communities. As of August 3, 2021, 32 First Nations communities across Canada are working to resolve 51 long-term drinking water advisories. In total, First Nations communities have lifted 108 long-term drinking water advisories, restoring reliable access to safe drinking water for approximately 6,350 homes and 467 buildings in 79 communities since November 2015.
The Government of Canada and First Nations communities are working in partnership to build long-term solutions that support sustainable access to safe, clean drinking water and restore trust in the water supply. Today, Indigenous Services Canada provided an update on progress toward clean drinking water in all First Nations communities. As of July 6, 2021, 32 First Nations communities across Canada are working to resolve long-term drinking water advisories. In total, First Nations communities have lifted 108 long-term drinking water advisories restoring reliable access to safe drinking water for 6350 homes and 467 buildings in 79 communities since November 2015.
Canada’s famous and beloved tugboat, Theodore TOO, announced on Jun. 9, 2021, that he would set sail from Halifax to his new home in the Port of Hamilton and would become an ambassador to the Great Lakes and the marine industry. The 65-foot life-sized reproduction of Canada’s beloved “Theodore Tugboat” has partnered with Swim Drink Fish and will take on a large role in promoting several of the organization’s initiatives including its Great Lakes Guide, according to the tugboat’s owner, Blair McKeil. “We must ensure access to clean water and promote employment in one of our nation’s most vital and skill-intensive sectors,” said McKeil, President and CEO of Breakwater Investments. “We’re incredibly honoured to join Swim Drink Fish and lend support to its work with Indigenous leaders and sustainability thought leaders in their mission-critical work rallying Canadians around a clean water strategy built on the conservation, restoration and protection of our waterways and Great Lakes. Tugboats have a big job on the water and Theodore TOO has an even bigger mandate now. We’re incredibly excited about the role he’ll play in promoting sustainability.”
The Government of Canada and First Nations are working in partnership to improve access to clean drinking water and lift all long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserves as soon as possible. Today, Indigenous Services Canada provided an update on progress toward clean drinking water in all First Nations communities. As of May 17, 2021, 106 long-term drinking water advisories have been lifted. In other words, reliable access to safe drinking water has been restored for 5920 homes and 447 buildings in 77 communities since November 2015.
It’s not every day that one of your virtual classmates is the prime minister of Canada. Just ask the students from Alison Palmer’s Grade 6 class at the Victoria School in Edmonton. When they attended class on Jan. 5, their virtual guest was none other than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. But Trudeau wasn’t in the virtual class to learn about social studies, math or history. Instead, he spent an hour answering questions about his job and political promises.
This past November marked 25 years since Neskantaga First Nation, located in Northwestern Ontario, was placed on a boil water advisory. In October 2020, over 250 Neskantaga residents were evacuated and transferred to a hotel in Thunder Bay after “an oily sheen was found in the Neskantaga water reservoir;” “high levels of hydrocarbons” were discovered in the water after testing. Residents were able to return after two months, but the boil water advisory remains. Chief Chris Moonias has called upon Ontario Premier Doug Ford to support Neskantaga First Nation in securing clean drinking water and properly trained water operators – Ford has yet to respond. Ending all boil-water advisories in Canada can no longer be delayed; Ford must act in accordance with the concerns of the Neskantaga First Nation immediately.
‘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.”
It is to our national shame that many First Nations communities still don’t have access to potable water. That we have known about the problem for decades and failed to address it is a stain on our national character — one that Justin Trudeau and his Liberals made a lot of hay about addressing during the 2015 election campaign. “A Canadian government led by me will address this as a top priority because it’s not right in a country like Canada. This has gone on for far too long,” Trudeau said at the time, pledging to end all boil-water advisories on reserves within five years.
Suggested measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 won't be effective in remote Manitoba First Nations unless housing conditions and access to clean water are improved, says a new report. "Asking people to wash their hands and isolate in overcrowded homes without running water is like asking people unable to afford bread to eat cake," reads the report, released Wednesday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
Over a thousand people poured into the streets of downtown Winnipeg Friday to bring attention to the dozens of First Nations across Canada currently under boil water advisories. Roughly 1,100 people, including more than 800 students from the Seven Oaks School Division, took part, organizers estimate. Carrying signs, the demonstrators walked from city hall down Main Street to Portage Avenue, and then up Memorial Boulevard, before ending at the Manitoba Legislative Building.
