Marc Miller-CPAC screengrab
The Trudeau government is again making a promise to First Nation communities with boil water advisories.
An additional $1.9 billion has been promised to help lift those advisories on reserves.
However, in making the funding announcement Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller admitted the promise to have those advisories lifted by March of next year will not be met.
He explains it was an ambitious objective “right from the get-go.”
The minister says the problems in meeting those goals are complex since each reserve has its own set of priorities in achieving them.
Miller points out in Shoal Lake 40 First Nation near Kenora the Freedom Road was completed before work began on their water system.
That road he notes was critical in allowing them to bring the necessary equipment to their community to complete the work on their water treatment plant.
Currently, there are 59 boil water advisories in 41 communities.
Twenty-two of those advisories will not be lifted by the deadline which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised in the election campaign five years ago.
