NDP statement on the PBO’s report on clean drinking water

The NDP’s Critic for Indigenous Services and Crown-Indigenous Relations, Lori Idlout, made the following statement:

“In a country as rich as Canada, it is unacceptable that so many Indigenous communities are still living under boil water advisories. In communities like Neskantaga in Northern Ontario, many people have never known what it’s like to have safe, clean drinking water straight from the tap.

The Liberal government continues to say the right things about ending the water crisis but, for people living without access to safe drinking water, not much has changed. The Trudeau government has failed to keep their promise to lift all long-term boil water advisories in Canada by the end of March this year. Indigenous people can’t wait any longer.

In my riding of Nunavut, the city of Iqaluit has been without clean drinking water for seven weeks. If this were happening in a city like Vancouver or Toronto this would have been fixed immediately. The Liberals must do better.

Today’s report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer shows that, on top of putting the necessary funding in place, the government needs to ensure Indigenous communities have the training or the experience needed to maintain the solutions the government is bringing. Without adequate operations and maintenance funding, communities will lose their access to clean drinking water when the infrastructure fails.

The NDP will continue to fight until everyone has access to clean drinking water.”