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“The federal government is only spending 70 per cent of what it would cost to eliminate boil-water advisories on First Nations reserves, according to Canada’s budget watchdog.
A new report from the parliamentary budget officer (PBO) estimates that $3.2 billion would be required between 2010 and 2020 to bring water and waste water systems on reserves in line with non-First Nations communities, with another $360 million needed annually for operations and maintenance.
The government’s actual and planned spending, however, fall short of what’s needed by at least 30 per cent, the report finds.
“The prime minister made a very clear commitment during the election,” said NDP Indigenous youth critic Charlie Angus, who requested the report, in an interview on Thursday. “But he simply didn’t follow through with the kind of investments that are needed to make that happen.””
– National Post, Government spending only 70% of what’s needed to end boil-water advisories on reserves: PBO.
“The northern Ontario community of Kashechewan made headlines all over Canada in 2005, when its poor water quality and unsanitary conditions forced the evacuation of 1,000 of its residents. The evacuation order raised awareness about a much larger problem: more than 80 First Nations communities are currently under “boiled water advisories” and 21 communities are deemed to be at high-risk for contamination. In Canada, contamination and inadequate water and sanitation services in First Nations communities are a real and present threat to human health and the environment”
– The Council of Canadians, Safe Water for First Nations.
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Download the 18″x24″ poster (.pdf), Indian Country 52 #49 – Toxic Water.
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Indian Country 52
Indian Country 52 is a weekly project by David Bernie that uses the medium of posters that promote issues and stories in Indian Country.
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This work by David Bernie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may download, share, and post the images under the condition that the works are attributed to the artist.
