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.
Not only do they deserve access to drinking water that is not contaminated, that won’t give them a rash, make them sick or, in extreme cases, kill them; they have a right to it.
It is a fact of life in far too many Indigenous communities that their tap water is unfit for consumption without first being boiled.
When Justin Trudeau became prime minister in late 2015, there were no fewer than 105 long-term boil water advisories on First Nations reserves.
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.
Since November 2015, 78 long-term drinking water advisories have been lifted.
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.