Ont. First Nations hope new funding will end some water advisories

The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation is expanding its water system to deliver clean drinking water to hundreds of residents who have been grappling for more than a decade with seven drinking water advisories.

The Bay of Quinte is on Lake Ontario and the First Nation is not remote or isolated. It’s just off Ontario’s Highway 401, between Toronto and Montreal.

Chief R. Donald Maracle said his community has suffered from a lack of safe water since 2008, due to fecal, bacterial and algae contaminations. A regional drought made many groundwater wells go completely dry in 2017.

“We’re making significant progress in terms of addressing our community’s long-standing water needs,” Maracle said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

He said the construction of eight-kilometre water pipes has started since his nation received $16.7 million from Ottawa for the project.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press he realized only recently his government would not deliver on a promise to lift all long-term drinking-water advisories in First Nations communities by this March, adding that COVID-19 restrictions have blocked access to certain communities.

A total of 58 long-term drinking water advisories are still affecting 40 First Nations communities across the country, according to the government.

Maracle said the COVID-19 pandemic has also disrupted supply chains from manufacturers and made them unreliable for construction projects, which increased the cost of the water main project from about $8.1 million to $18.2 million.

“First Nations people have given up an awful lot of land and resources, which is the foundation of the economy of this country,” he said. “The provinces and the federal government benefit from that, so why should First Nations not have safe drinking water and adequate housing?”

About 2,200 people live on the reserve and another 3,000 of them nearby.

Maracle said 90 families are on a waiting list for affordable housing.

“There’s no other houses available in the surrounding area,” he said.

Indigenous Services Canada announced the new funding for the project in December, saying the money will cover the cost of extending the water mains from both Deseronto, Ont., and the First Nation’s own water-treatment plants to serve five areas in the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.

The department said the project’s goal is to lift five longterm drinking water advisories by next autumn.

The new funding will enable the community to finish the third phase of a project started years ago. It began with a $26.7-million water-treatment plant and $13 million for an elevated water reservoir and water pipes last year.