Many, if not most, of the 62 First Nations reserves in this country that lack a safe water supply are found in isolated areas, far from where most Canadians live.
It is to the credit of the current Liberal government in Ottawa that in its quest for reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous Peoples it is making real progress with its longstanding pledge to ensure every First Nation reserve has a safe supply of water for drinking, washing food and bathing.
But it is an indication of the enormity of the problem that the progress is both limited and halting.
It is a fact of life in far too many Indigenous communities that their tap water is unfit for consumption without first being boiled.
At that time, Trudeau’s promise to make these long-term drinking water advisories a thing of the past in every First Nations community by 2021 was greeted with disbelief.
Life is better in those communities, even if they still face challenges unimaginable to most Canadians.
Moreover, the integrity of First Nations water systems can’t be judged solely by the number of water boil advisories.
Other federal government data suggest the improvements to those water systems aren’t as significant or permanent as the end of all those drinking water advisories might lead us to conclude.
Even so, the government has a long way to go.
Yet this remains something Canada absolutely must do.