There are still 28 boil water advisories left on First Nations in Canada.
That’s according to Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu.
She says the challenge now is making sure there are qualified people to operate the water treatment systems.
“A lot of it comes down to water operators,” Hajdu said on Wednesday after her visit to Northwest Angle #33.
“So you might be able to have a really expensive plant, and now that we’ve made this commitment and the Liberal government decided to end all boil water advisories, the money is not the problem anymore. We have the money booked and put aside for all plants that will be needed.”
Yesterday, Hajdu was on hand to celebrate the end of three boil water advisories on the Lake of the Woods First Nation.
“This community had a variety of different, smaller areas in their community, that were on distinct and separate boil water advisories. For example if people were on wells that are contaminated, that would be an additional boil water advisory. Bottom line, now the community has clean, drinkable water throughout the community.”
Hajdu also paid a visit to the Shoal Lake #40 First Nation on Tuesday as part of her tour.