Winnipeg's water scare pales compared to First Nations' 18 year boil advisory

When Winnipeg health officials announced a boil water advisory for the entire city on Tuesday, it was the Manitoba capital’s first-ever foray into the world of liquid terror.

Residents were outraged upon learning that their access to clean drinking water had been potentially tainted by E. coli. Those who refused to drink boiled tap water rushed to stores, making bottled water an impossible commodity to keep stocked.

Restaurants and businesses were forced to close or adjust their services – like those coffee shops that were only able to sell food and bottled beverages. Schools shut off drinking fountains and urged parents to send children to class with a supply of potable water.

It was an unprecedented moment for Manitoba’s capital, but not an unprecedented moment for the province itself. The First Nations community of Shoal Lake 40, located at the source of Winnipeg’s water supply, has been under a boil water advisory for 18 years.

The issue of Shoal Lake 40 First Nation is a complicated one. The isolated community is located about two hours northeast of Winnipeg, on a small island that was cut off from the mainland when the Winnipeg aqueduct was built at Shoal Lake more than a century ago.

The construction left the community – located on the Ontario side of the provincial border – without year-round access to the outside world. While a dirt path is available during the summer, access is nil during the winter.

As the Winnipeg Free Press recently reported, the city’s water supply comes from Shoal Lake – a point highlighted by Chief Erwin Redsky in December, when he petitioned for the completion of a long-overdue project to link the First Nation community to the highway system.

Winnipeg has since agreed to build a winter road to the community, CBC recently reported, but it’s hardly the end of the challenges faced by community members.

The community’s isolation has created a lack of access to potable water, meaning residents have faced for more than a decade what Winnipeg has faced over the past two days: The need to boil their water before drinking it, cooking with it or brushing their teeth with it.

According to Health Canada, Shoal Lake is among 91 First Nations communities under drinking water advisories as of Nov. 30.

That number does not include British Columbia First Nations, which are managed under a separate health governance framework, but span from Atlantic Canada, through Ontario and into the Prairies. And many of them have been in place for years, even decades.

Shoal Lake 40 is listed with seven advisories, six of which have been in effect since 2000. The last was launched in 2007. There are, for the record, five boil water advisories and two “do not consume” warnings currently active in Manitoba, not counting Shoal Lake (which is in Ontario) and not counting Winnipeg.

On Tuesday, Winnipeg’s Medical Officer of Health and Manitoba Health announced a precautionary boil water advisory after test samples came back positive for the presence of bacteria.

The advisory was expanded to a city-wide order later in the day, out of what was referred to as “an abundance of caution.”

The city-wide warning remained in effect late Wednesday as officials worked to confirm what bacteria had been discovered. Geoff Patton, acting director in the water and waste department, told reporters there was an expectation that the previous sample had simply been tainted and that the water supply would be confirmed clean.

Meanwhile, the issue of Shoal Lake’s water supply remains a matter of concern.

Last month, environmentalist David Suzuki called Shoal Lake’s circumstances an “ironic example” of the disparity between aboriginal communities and large cities.

"The human body is about 60 per cent water. In a sense, this means the people of Winnipeg have a very real connection to the First Nations territories at Shoal Lake, source of the water they use for drinking, cooking, cleaning and bathing," Suzuki wrote.

"But while Winnipeg residents enjoy clean water, the people of Shoal Lake 40 suffer from substandard water, which puts their health at risk every time they turn on the tap."

In November, the International Joint Commission to Canada issued a public declaration of concern, suggesting that Winnipeg was in non-compliance with the water diversion agreement.

In a letter sent to both Manitoba and Ontario governments, the IJC asked that the matter be investigated. The agency suggested that Winnipeg’s removal of a land connection to the community “has directly led to the deaths of nine First Nations members.”

"Winnipeg’s water diversion interferes with every facet of our lives and our economy and Canada and Ontario enable that interference," Redsky said at the time. “[I]t’s really refreshing to have treaty commissioners – men and women of international stature who know the importance of keeping your promises – to have them come and see how our rights have been ignored and then have the hold Canada, Winnipeg and Ontario to account.”

It is notable that Winnipeg’s water scare is expected to be cleared within two days. Shoal Lake 40’s problem, in the meantime, is in danger of reaching two decades.