News category
Original article by Hilary Beaumont for Vice Canada. The federal government has announced $4 million to expand a pilot program that ended unsafe drinking water advisories on three First Nations by training young Indigenous people to operate water treatment plants in their communities. With an initial investment under the Conservative government of only $385,000 per Read the article >>
Original article featured in Water Canada Magazine. The Hon. Carolyn Bennett, minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, announced over $4 million in funding for an expansion of the Keewaytinook Okimakanak (KO) Safe Water Project during her visit with youth in to Northern Ontario. The expansion is has set a target to end boiling water advisories Read the article >>
Original article by Matthew McClearn for the Globe and Mail. Last updated August 29, 2016. Water Systems at Risk The Globe and Mail’s recent investigation has found that one-third of people living on First Nations are using water that poses a risk to their health. The investigation examines recent statistics, water management since the Walkerton Crisis, Read the article >>
Original article published in Water Canada Magazine. Section on KO by Rachel Phan. The full issue can be read at watercanada.net. Welcome to Water’s Next 2016. Water Canada magazine’s Water’s Next Award program is the only national awards program to honour leadership across the entire water sector—including public servants, non-governmental groups, researchers, municipalities, and technology providers. Read the article >>
Original article published in NetNewsLedger Toronto, ON – Six First Nations Chiefs were honoured with a Water’s Next Award last night at a gala in Toronto. The award recognizes the Chiefs’ work on the Safe Water Project, which has been successful in eliminating boil water advisories in Indigenous communities. The Water’s Next Awards are presented Read the article >>
Original blog post by the Editorial team, posted in FluksAqua Community, Water and wastewater community, Water plant operator The survival of Canada’s Aboriginal people is tied directly to the quality of its water as it is a critical and sacred element. B. G. Cheechoo, Grand Chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation from 1988 to 1994, said the history Read the article >>
Original article by Hilary Beaumont for VICE News. Before he became a water treatment plant operator on his isolated reserve, Nico Suggashie was feeling depressed — a problem many young Indigenous people struggle with on First Nations in Canada. Now the 24-year-old has a sense of pride after preventing a boil water advisory in Poplar Hill First Read the article >>
Original article by Lindsay Kelly in Northern Ontario Business. Barry Strachan is so confident in the Keewaytinook Okimakanak (KO) Northern Chiefs Council’s Safe Water Project, he’s willing to bet his reputation on it. “I’ll go on record right now and say we can expect positive change without one dollar being spent on infrastructure,” said Strachan, KO’s public works Read the article >>
Original article by Chantal Braganza in TVO Shared Values. Barry Strachan wants to see the water program he helped create become redundant. The Safe Water Project is entering its second year. It has helped three reserves eliminate their boil water advisories and set two others on the path to doing so. While funding ran out in Read the article >>
Editorial by Geordi Kakepetum, originally published by the Toronto Star. The federal budget tabled in March 2016 announced more than $2 billion in new funding to start to address drinking water quality for First Nations. This investment, which comes as part of the government’s commitment to ending boil water advisories in First Nations communities within five Read the article >>