First Nations ‘living in Third World conditions’ - Videos

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First Nations ‘living in Third World conditions’ as communities endure water advisories (Numerous LINKS online) (Watch Videos)

[ http://globalnews.ca/news/3238948/first ... s-promise/ ]

By Amy Minsky February 9, 2017

A report found the federal government isn't doing enough to address the drinking water crisis facing Canada's First Nations.

Despite an influx of billions in funding and a campaign pledge [ http://globalnews.ca/news/2592592/feder ... -promises/ ] , the Liberals [ http://globalnews.ca/tag/justin-trudeau/ ] have barely made a dent in ending drinking water advisories for First Nations communities [ http://globalnews.ca/tag/first-nations/ ] , a report released Thursday found.

It’s been almost one year since the Trudeau Liberals committed $1.8 billion over five years [ http://globalnews.ca/news/2594230/feder ... l-peoples/ ] in their 2016 budget to help end all long-term advisories. A “flawed” system “ridden with delays” means there were still 156 advisories affecting 110 First Nations communities as of fall 2016, according to the report from the David Suzuki Foundation and The Council of Canadians.

“The protection of water and lands is the beating heart of who we are as a people. It’s our lifeline to everything,” Roxanne Green of Shoal Lake 40 First Nation said Thursday in Ottawa.

“We have many First Nations communities in Canada that are living in Third World conditions in a first world country. And that is not acceptable.”

Residents of Shoal Lake, which straddles Ontario and Manitoba, haven’t been able to drink community water for 19 years, Green said.

“The impact of not having safe drinking water has been great and costly for us. We have people in our community that are very vulnerable to sickness because we don’t have access to clean drinking water.

“While water is life, sometimes water has taken life. We have lost lives due to not having access,” Green said.

The report, entitled Glass Half Empty?, focused on nine First Nations communities in Ontario, the province with the highest number of drinking water advisories in the country; as of November 2016, the province had 81 advisories, 68 of which were classified as long-term, affecting 44 communities.

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