700 km north of Winnipeg, Canada, the Tataskweyak Cree Nation has been grappling with a water quality advisory for the past eight years. The scarcity of running water and the lack of fire hydrants in the community are also complicating the lives of firefighters.
The volunteer fire chief of Tataskweyak, also known as Split Lake, Melvin Cook Jr. has no running water in his home, as do about half the households in his community.
“Not having running water on this side [of the community] has to change. We want to be on an equal footing with the rest of the community.” – Melvin Cook Jr, Tataskweyak Volunteer Fire Chief
His family – he and his wife, their five children and four grandchildren – are too big to get by on the water they have, even though they get truckloads of water every day to fill the house’s reservoir.
“When water supplies are low, it’s difficult for us to help the children go to school […] help them with hygiene.”
Lack of water makes fighting fires difficult
The community’s volunteer fire chief is concerned about the lack of water, particularly when it comes to fighting fires. There is no running water in half the community, which makes it difficult for firefighters to access it, as hydrants are rare. As for those that do exist, they are of poor quality because they are dilapidated and all around 40 years old, according to Melvin Cook Jr.
Firefighters therefore often need to use a tanker truck, which complicates the task: first they have to close off access to water for the rest of the community in order to fill the truck. It then takes around 8 minutes to fill the tank and only 4 minutes to empty it.
This often results in almost extinguished blazes coming back to life because not enough water is poured in.
“We’ve had so many incidents in our community where we’ve been able to save houses, only for them to start burning again.”
Niki Ashton, the local NDP MP for Churchill-Keewatinook Aski, cites a few examples where a lack of firefighting infrastructure has led to tragedy, including in 2023, when a flat fire injured two people and displaced 49.
She says the federal Liberal government should fund the community more systematically to ensure that every First Nation has the equipment and infrastructure to deal with these tragic fires.
Some thirty First Nations still without drinking water
Even after Justin Trudeau resigned as Prime Minister on 6 January, his promise to lift all long-term drinking water advisories for First Nations has still not been fulfilled. There are still 31 advisories in force for 29 First Nations, including the Tataskweyak Cree Nation.
Because of the quality of the water, many members of the community suffer from health problems, as Melvin Cook Jr. explains. His mother died of cancer, a disease which, along with diabetes and psoriasis, is common in his community.
“Our community has had many incidents due to unhealthy water,’ says Melvin Cook Jr. ’When we drink the water, it affects us.”
The Tataskweyak Cree Nation currently obtains its water supply from the Nelson River via a water treatment plant. The federal government’s website states that renovations were carried out in 2019, but that the water quality advisory remains in place.
“It’s absolutely shameful that, in a country as rich as Canada, we still have First Nations like Tataskweyak Cree Nation and others in northern Manitoba who don’t have access to clean drinking water.” -Niki Ashton, Member of Parliament for Churchill-Keewatinook Aski
A federal government spokeswoman told Radio-Canada in an email that Ottawa wants to lift the drinking water advisory as quickly as possible. She also said that the government has been successful in having 147 long-term drinking water advisories lifted in First Nations public systems since 2015, representing 83% of such advisories.
The government expects the Tataskweyak Cree Nation water advisory to be lifted in December 2025. It is funding a pipeline to recover water from Assean Lake. Construction of the 40-kilometre water pipeline is expected to be completed by the summer or autumn of 2025, according to the federal government’s website.
