First Nations communities are still struggling with not having safe drinking water.
The Parliamentary Budget Report regarding First Nation’s drinking water was released and Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN) Grand Chief, Derek Fox, said in a statement that the federal government needs have more funding commitments to ensure safe drinking water for these communities.
According to the report, spending in 2016/2017 as well as planned spending until 2025/2026 will be enough to cover capital costs but not to help maintain or pay for operational costs. The report estimates that $138 million should be spent per year in order to cover that spending.
Across NAN territory, there are seven short term and 13 long term boil water advisories happening. Neskantaga First Nation has been on a BWA for 26 years, that is the longest in Canada.
In NAN’s 2018 infrastructure assessment, it saw only 44 per cent of final costs were covered for operations and maintenance across NAN communities.
