While Canadian Indigenous people are influential in ways (i.e. Canada has abundant water, yet water in many indigenous communities in Ontario is not safe to drink, Human Rights Watch said in a new report today. 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 our national survey of Canadian water service providers, aging infrastructure, such as pipelines and water treatment plants, ranked as their top risk — and by a good measure. The premise drips with irony: Descendants of the earliest settlers of a land strong and free now have nowhere to lay their head. These attitudes are particularly astonishing because the water crisis is entirely of Canada’s own making. The 92-page report, “Make It Safe: Canada’s Obligation to End the First Nations Water Crisis,” documents the impacts of serious and prolonged drinking water and sanitation problems for thousands of indigenous people – known as “First Nations” – living on reserves. The ISSN 2330-717X The risk scores are updated every year, when the government looks at the design of public water systems, how well they are operated and maintained, the … The federal government assumed legal responsibility for “Indians and lands reserved for Indians” under section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867 . 3 A drinking water advisory is issued to warn people that using their water poses a health risk. There is nothing more important than clean water, especially now in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The First Nations Water Crisis Won't End When Drinking Water Advisories Do They are more of a policy performance measure than a true indicator of water security and well-being. As a matter of fact, 58 long-term drinking water advisories on public systems on reserves remain in place as of May 9, 2019. Many Indigenous communities are c still years away from having drinking water protection comparable to elsewhere in Canada. Despite the fact that Canada has the world's third largest per-capita freshwater reserve, the water many Indigenous communities depend on is contaminated, difficult to access, or at risk … progressively, musically, and commercially), the harsh realities of being Indigenous-while-Canadian leave many out in the cold. B.C.-based Globe and Mail columnist Gary Mason has compared the Indigenous water crisis here to the lead-poisoned water scandal in Flint, Michigan, where more … Canada's Water Crisis: Indigenous Families at Risk; Reports More reports ... Another COVID risk – overuse of psychotropic drugs on seniors in care. Yet at any given time there are more than 100 drinking water advisories in First Nations across Canada. 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