First Nations across Canada have been struggling to acquire clean drinking water for decades. Just recently people have started to wake up to the crisis and it is time for everyone to get involved and help spread the word!

There is nothing more important than clean water, especially now in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet at any given time there are drinking water advisories in dozens of First Nations communities across Canada. The lack of clean, safe drinking water in First Nations is one of the greatest violations of the UN-recognized human rights to water and sanitation.

In 2015, there were drinking water advisories in 126 First Nations. The Trudeau government committed to resolving them by March 2021, but they failed to provide all the funding required to meet that deadline. There are still advisories in 33 First Nation communities.

Instead, the Liberal government has been promoting public-private partnerships (P3s) as a solution. History has shown that P3s cost more, they lead to the privatization of water, and a loss of community control and jobs. P3s are not the answer to the drinking water crisis in First Nations.

The Council of Canadians fights for safe, clean water for everyone. This is even more urgent as COVID-19 continues to spread globally. We support Indigenous peoples’ right to self-government and self-determination.

Greater control by and for First Nations over water is a basic step toward reconciliation, a requirement of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and a necessary precondition to ending drinking water advisories in First Nations for good.