BOIL IT FIRST
Drinking Water Advisories in First Nations Communities in Canada
A GOVERNMENT'S PROMISE
In 2017, the Liberal government promised to invest $8.8M to lift the longest-standing First Nations boil water advisory in Canada by 2018. 24 years have passed since the advisory and the Neskantaga First Nation still does not have safe tap water. As of November 2019, the boil water advisory for Neskantaga, a community located in Northern Ontario, still stands. According to Indigenous Services Canada’s website on long-term drinking water advisories in First Nations communities, the “proposed resolution date” for Neskantaga’s boil water advisory is December 2019 -- the project is still under construction.
Dr. David Suzuki / ECOWATCH
Neskantaga is not the only First Nations community in Canada with decades-long drinking water advisories. First Nations communities like Shoal Lake No. 40 and Kitigan Zibi have had long-term water advisories since 1997 and 1999, respectively. In fact, according to data collected from Indigenous Services Canada, there are a combined total of 133 long and short term advisories in First Nations communities across Canada, as of 14 November 2019. While this number is referring to the public water systems on-reserve that are funded by the Government of Canada, it does not include a portion of the 500 semi-public or privately-owned water systems in First Nations communities that also have ongoing boil water advisories. The data collected for this article only addresses First Nations communities south of the 60th parallel north, while there seems to be a lack of public data about drinking water advisories in Indigenous communities north of 60.
THE FIRST NATIONS WATER CRISIS
There is nothing more important than clean water, yet at any given time there are
more than 100 drinking water advisories in First Nations communities across Canada.
Indigenous Services Canada / GOVERNMENT OF CANADA
Indigenous Services Canada, GOVERNMENT OF CANADA (Retrieved 14 November 2019)
DRINKING WATER ADVISORY TYPES
Indigenous Services Canada classifies advisories as three different types: boil-water, do-not-consume, and do-not-use. Drinking water advisories are also classified by duration: short-term and long-term. Long-term advisories are defined by any advisory lasting longer than a year. Currently, First Nations communities are responsible for issuing drinking water advisories and taking the appropriate actions to address the cause.
Boil Water Advisory (BWA): An advisory issued to the public when the water in a community's water system is contaminated with fecal pollution indicator organisms (such as Escherichia coli) or when water quality is questionable due to operational deficiencies (such as inadequate chlorine residual). Under these circumstances, bringing the water to a rolling boil for at least one minute will render it safe for human consumption.
Do Not Consume Advisory (DNC): An advisory issued to the public when the water in a community's water system contains a contaminant, such as a chemical, that cannot be removed from the water by boiling.
Do Not Use Advisory (DNU): An advisory issued to the public when the contaminant that poses a health risk cannot be removed from the water by boiling and exposure to the water could cause skin, eye, and/or nose irritations or when an unknown contaminant has polluted the drinking water supply (e.g. a chemical spill).
Health Canada, 2008
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John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Community elder Grace Redsky from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation performed a water healing ceremony at a man-made channel made to support Winnipeg's water system which has cut them off from the mainland (25 June 2015).
In 2016, Human Rights Watch, released a report calling the concentration of over 100 boil water advisories in First Nations communities across Canada a human rights violation. The independent, international human rights organization added that the Canadian government must urgently address the issue of contaminated water and broken water systems in First Nations communities, who lack legal protections against this legislated discrimination compared to Canadians living off-reserve. The First Nations Health Authority states that drinking water advisories do not always refer to an entire community, but sometimes may be referring to a specific building. Regardless of scope, lack of accessible drinking water poses tangible health risks to First Nations communities.
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION
Indigenous Services Canada, GOVERNMENT OF CANADA (Retrieved 14 November 2019)
Indigenous Services Canada, GOVERNMENT OF CANADA (Retrieved 14 November 2019)
“WOULD YOU BE ASKING THE SAME QUESTION?”
While Canada boasts itself as a wealthy nation with safe and clean drinking water, this is not a privilege afforded to everyone in the country. The abundance of drinking water advisories in First Nations communities across Canada is part of a larger issue of colonialism and legislated racism. Many Canadians have pointed out this inequity in the distribution of clean drinking water in Indigenous versus non-Indigenous communities.
“Why is it that we ask the question about whether or not Indigenous people should have clean drinking water?”
Among these Canadians is NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, who criticized the Canadian government’s inaction in addressing boil water advisories in Indigenous communities as ‘neglect’ and ‘betrayal’. As part of his federal election campaign, Singh pledged to allocate $1.8B towards addressing drinking water issues in Indigenous communities. When questioned by a journalist whether he was writing a ‘blank cheque’ for this issue, Singh posed this question: “If Toronto had a drinking water problem, if Montreal had a drinking water problem, would you be asking the same question?” He adds, “Why is it that we ask the question about whether or not Indigenous people should have clean drinking water?”
A month after Singh’s statement, tap water in 58% of Montreal homes with lead pipes were found to have “lead levels above Canada’s recommended drinking water limit of five parts per billion (ppb) of lead.” Unlike the delayed response addressing First Nations drinking water advisories in Canada, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante announced that the government will focus on replacing every lead pipe in the city. Canadians online expressed the contrast between the government’s response to Montreal’s drinking water problem versus drinking water advisories in Indigenous communities as inequitable and hypocritical.
Beyond the situation in Montreal, Canadians have noted the difference in attitude when addressing issues of access to potable water in non-Indigenous communities versus Indigenous ones.
In November 2019, there were 133 advisories in over 100 First Nations.
133
ADVISORIES
One drinking water advisory can mean up to 5,000 people lack access to clean drinking water.
5,000
PEOPLE
Some of the advisories date as far back as 1995—like
Shoal Lake 40 First Nation.
24
YEARS
THE STRUGGLE FOR CLEAN WATER
As of 14 November 2019, Indigenous Services Canada promised that “all drinking water advisories on public systems on reserve will be lifted by March 2021.” While many First Nations communities hold out hope for their water systems to be repaired by the Canadian government, there are communities who are finally gaining access to clean water. These victories, however, are not won without a fight. Semiahmoo First Nation, for example, reached a deal in 2018 with the City of Surrey that will provide their community with potable water and sewer services. Semiahmoo Chief Harley Chappell said in an interview with CBC that “My whole life, our community has been struggling for basic necessities of potable water and sewer." Although clean water is a basic human right, the struggle for potable water in First Nations communities across Canada continues.