Lack of clean drinking water in our own province is an issue Winnipeggers can't ignore

I saw a meme the other day that said most people in this world drink water dirtier than the water in our toilets here in North America. I was shocked, then sad, then angry. It got me thinking: why?

Why is it that so many citizens of this planet are stuck drinking water that most of us here in lotus land would refuse? Why aren't we doing something about this situation? Don't we have the capability nowadays to ensure this most basic of human rights?

Apparently not.

On the African continent, 3,000 children die every day from drinking contaminated water. The United Nations reports that 20 per cent of the world's population struggles to gain access to clean drinking water.

Women and girls, who are often responsible for collecting water for their families, spend significant periods of each day getting water, resulting in less time for work, education and family.

Imagine telling your daughter she has to be late for school because she needs to go find water to make breakfast. Dirty water, at that. How would we here in North America cope without our hot showers, green lawns and sparkling clean vehicles?

I don't know about you, but I have a hard time dealing with the fact that my cats have cleaner drinking water than my fellow global citizens.

A 20-year boil-water advisory

The thing is, you don't have to go to the other side of the planet to find people who don't have access to clean drinking water.

Shoal Lake 40 First Nation is right on the Manitoba/Ontario border, and the community has been without potable water for decades.

A century ago, the decision to appropriate ancestral lands in order to build the intake for Winnipeg's water system left the community cut off from the mainland. A dam was built to ensure that the city's water remained pristine, while simultaneously leaving contaminated water on the reserve's side.

So while Winnipeggers are able to drink clean water straight from their taps, folks living less than 150 kilometres away live in fear of what comes out of theirs.

Residents have been left to cope with the situation as best they can, including living under a boil-water advisory for 20 years. Even more heartbreaking, community members have died since then falling through the winter ice while trying to walk to the mainland.

Advisories in dozens of First Nations

Shoal Lake 40 isn't alone. According to the federal government, 91 First Nations communities were under long-term boil-water advisories as of last January.

The current federal government has vowed to end this state of affairs by 2021. It's mind-boggling that any Canadians are living without such a basic need being met.  

I remember the boil water advisory brouhaha here in Winnipeg a few years back.

Citizens were disgusted by the smelly brown water that was coming out of their taps. It wasn't long before local radio talk shows and op-ed columns were besieged by disgruntled citizens, outraged that their water supply was seemingly contaminated. They demanded that the mayor and city council take action immediately.

I wasn't pleased about the sludge that was coming out of my taps either. Instead of getting angry, I just felt guilty. I couldn't help but think of the people in Shoal Lake, and the fact that they've had to put up with far worse than discoloured water for a lot longer than a few weeks.

We're all Canadians, all part of this great nation. Why are some of us able to demand what we want while others are left wanting?

A generation without clean water

Coincidentally, I got a flyer in the mail recently from the City of Winnipeg, listing all the reasons why our tap water is A-1. It touted its safety, the many tests it goes through, how cheap it is (less than half a cent per litre, apparently).

Despite mentioning Shoal Lake not once, but twice, nowhere does it say that those who live at the source of this liquid gold are living without it themselves.

Currently, Shoal Lake 40 doesn't even have a water treatment facility. The lack of all-season road access has made it too expensive for the community to build a treatment plant.

Meanwhile, an entire generation of Shoal Lake 40 First Nation has grown up relying on bottled water in a community whose problems seem to have been forgotten by most of the rest of us.

We have taken what we needed and left others to go without. We've allowed fellow citizens to live in substandard conditions for decades.

In short: we've dropped the ball.

What's happened to the Canada admired around the world for its kindness and generosity? What's happened to the Canada I love?

This isn't some hypothetical group of aliens on a distant planet, folks. These are people, just like you and me, trying to raise their children and live their lives.

They deserve better than what they've gotten.

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