Empty glasses, empty promises to Canada’s First Nations – The Globe and Mail
Aug. 29, 2016
If a government’s first obligation is to ensure the safety of its citizens, a Globe and Mail investigation illustrates how dismally Canada has failed aboriginal communities when it comes to one of life’s basic necessities.
The plight of those mostly remote locales may somehow seem abstract to many Canadians, but consider this fact: Fully one-third of people living on First Nations reserves – about 150,000 people – do not have reliable access to a safe supply of drinking water, according to the federal government’s own figures.
The statistic in itself is unacceptable, but so is the time it is taking to remedy the situation.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged to eliminate all boil-water advisories on reserves within five years, and his government is evidently committed to making the First Nations file a front-burner political priority.
