Water crisis in Indigenous Communities Across Canada 

Indigenous peoples have been victims of environmental racism for decades, with water quality and scarcity being one of the factors. Clean, drinkable water is a human right, that many Indigenous communities across Canada do not have access to: “Bills or no bills, access to water is necessary for human life and it should not be possible to simply deny it to anyone” (Vowel, 2016). Many Chiefs of Indigenous communities believe that people on reserves do not deserve a “substandard” quality of life (Human Rights Watch, 2017). While thousands of Indigenous peoples are impacted by this injustice, many Canadians are unaware of the health concerns related to water contamination. In addition, “Canada is one of the most water-rich countries in the world”, which is why it is shocking that the issue is occurring in the first place (Human Rights Watch, 2017). 

 

In Canada, there are 3 types of water advisories: Boil Water Advisories/Orders, Do Not Consume Advisories/Orders, and Do Not Use Advisories/Orders. These advisories vary in terms of how restricting the rules are regarding drinking the water on reserves. Due to the high number of reserves experiencing 1 or more of these advisories, people have spent their whole lives without clean water, therefore having to drink from water bottles shipped from the government (Human Rights Watch, 2017). The government shipping bottles water to reserves is a short-term solution, so money, time, and effort need to be put towards long term solutions, such as cleaning the waterways to get rid of contaminants such as e-coli. 

 

One of the reasons the water crisis on Indigenous reserves has not been addressed is because the government does not regulate the water quality on reserves, like the rest of Canada (Human Rights Watch, 2017). Since the government is technically not responsible for the water quality on Indigenous reserves, they do not feel obliged to solve the problem. 

 

For years, Canada did not understand the harsh reality and extent of the problem. However, now that promises have been made, to help Grassy Narrows, among other communities, the government needs to be held accountable to keep their promises.