TORONTO — Ontario will push for a national agreement at this week's First Ministers' meeting in Vancouver to ensure First Nations communities have safe, clean drinking water, Premier Kathleen Wynne said Tuesday.
There are more than 150 boil water advisories or do not consume advisories in about 112 First Nations communities across Canada, some more than 15 years old.
"It's unacceptable to me that we have boil water orders in First Nations communities in Ontario, and that is the case across the country," said Wynne.
"If we don't find a way for the federal government, the provincial government and indigenous leadership to work together better on something as fundamental as provision of clean water, then I think that we should be very ashamed of ourselves."
First Nations' leaders from northern Ontario declared a public-health emergency last week, asking for a detailed intervention plan to ensure communities have access to safe, clean drinking water. A dire shortage of basic medical supplies and an epidemic of suicides among young people were other reasons for issuing their plea for help.
Wynne said she'll raise the drinking water issue when she meets Wednesday with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, provincial and territorial premiers and First Nations, Inuit and Metis leaders in Vancouver.
Indigenous leaders will be consulted for their input on Canada's approach to climate change, but Wynne said she knows they have other pressing issues to deal with.
"Climate change is an immediate issue, but there are other immediate issues that I know there will be a conversation about, things like clean water and how do we work together to make sure that we have a strategy for providing clean water across all of the country," she said. "That's one of the issues that I'll certainly be pushing."
![](https://media.darpanmagazine.com/library/uploads/news/content/drinking-water#@</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
david zimmer, ontario's minister of aboriginal affairs, said the previous federal government virtually refused to work with the province on first nations issues, and only agreed last year to co-operate with ontario on drinking water for reserves.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
"the new federal government has a renewed interest in this," said zimmer. "it's inexcusable that some of these boil water advisories have been there 10 year or 15 years. there's even one that's almost 20 years old."</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
zimmer called it "crazy" to have to fly in large bottles of water for remote first nations communities that used to be able to literally drink untreated water from nearby lakes and rivers, especially when ontario has over 20 per cent of the world's supply of fresh water. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
new water treatment technology that's easier to use may be a key in resolving the long-standing problem with safe drinking water, added zimmer.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
"the federal government put in water treatment plants 15 or 20 years ago, but it was a complicated technology, difficult to operate and need a couple of people," he said.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
"we're hoping to implement that newer technology, which is more reliable and simpler to operate and in terms of training people to operate it."</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
ontario's opposition progressive conservatives said the province's liberal government has been in power for 13 years, and there have been boil water advisories in first nations communities for every one of those years.</div>.jpg)
MORE National ARTICLES
Parks Canada Pulling Out Of Mother Canada Monument Project In Cape Breton
In a news release, Parks Canada says there are too many key elements that remain outstanding for the project to be achieved by the proposed date of July 1, 2017.
Parks Canada Pulling Out Of Mother Canada Monument Project In Cape Breton
Capital Markets Not The Boys' Club Hollywood Portrays, Industry Insiders Say
TORONTO — Priya Radha was nervous when she decided to make the switch from Scotiabank's commercial banking division to a sales and trading role in the bank's capital markets arm.
Capital Markets Not The Boys' Club Hollywood Portrays, Industry Insiders Say
Amarjeet Sohi Says Liberals Willing To Cut Strings On Infrastructure Funds To Help Cities
The Liberal government has been under pressure from big city mayors to loosen restrictions on promised infrastructure dollars so that cities can spend the money where they feel they need it most.
Amarjeet Sohi Says Liberals Willing To Cut Strings On Infrastructure Funds To Help Cities
Conrad Black Selling Nine-Bedroom Family Mansion In Toronto
Nestled on a 6.6-acre lot, the nine-bedroom property that includes a caretaker suite and a converted coach house will hit the auction block on March 8.
Conrad Black Selling Nine-Bedroom Family Mansion In Toronto
Baggage Handlers Stole From Checked Luggage At Halifax Airport: Police
The handlers allegedly searched through checked baggage after it had been loaded onto a plane Jan. 27, Nova Scotia RCMP said in a press release.
Baggage Handlers Stole From Checked Luggage At Halifax Airport: Police
Lockdown At Vancouver Island University Lifted After No Man With Gun Located
RCMP Const. Gary O'Brien says a tip came in at about 10:30 a.m. of a man spotted with photography equipment and something in his back pocket that looked like a firearm.