(OTTAWA) – ”On World Water Day, we call on the Trudeau administration to take action on the deplorable condition of many First Nations wastewater and water filtration systems,” said Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada (MP, Saanich-Gulf Islands).
“More than 80 drinking water advisories are in effect in communities across Canada. This is unacceptable in a modern democracy, and it dishonours the nation-to-nation relationship that this administration has claimed to champion.
“Canada is one of the most water-rich countries in the world, but we continue to pollute and to use this resource as if it were inexhaustible. Climate change threatens this precious resource, and now more than ever we need robust environmental legislation to ensure the sustainability and availability of water for all Canadians,” Ms. May said.
Lorraine Rekmans, Indigenous Affairs Critic, said: “The government of Canada holds a sacred fiduciary duty to provide services to Indigenous Peoples in Canada. These services must be held to the same standard that all Canadians receive. Safe drinking water is a human right, and this issue of contaminated drinking water on First Nations in Canada has been an unaddressed issue that successive Canadian governments have been unwilling or unable to address.
"There are people in First Nations communities who have not been able to drink from their taps for more than 20 years. Budget 2017 has to address this crisis and ensure the resources are made available to provide, at a minimum, basic human needs for Indigenous Peoples.”
The UN designated March 22 as World Water Day in 1993. This year’s theme is Why Wastewater? and focuses on the need to improve the collection and treatment of wastewater and safely reuse it.
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