Neskantaga First Nation

Water issues need to be addressed across Canada

Water issues need to be addressed across Canada

Last Thursday, I took part in the House of Commons Environment Committee hearings into Canada’s freshwater resources. Appearing before us were representatives from Health Canada, Indigenous Services Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Global Affairs Canada. As you can imagine, the issue of freshwater resources is an immense and complicated—but extraordinarily important—subject, so the conversation was lively and illuminating. Indigenous Services officials were, of course, asked why there were still 28 First Nations communities with boil-water advisories eight years after the government promised to fix the huge problem of neglect they found when taking office. Most of these problems go back much further than eight years. For example, the Neskantaga First Nation in Ontario has been on a boil water advisory since 1995. While some of these situations face jurisdictional and engineering challenges, we can all agree they would have been fixed much more quickly in non-indigenous communities.

Inside the battle over Ontario's Ring of Fire

Inside the battle over Ontario's Ring of Fire

On a rock-covered beach in the heart of the Ring of Fire in northern Ontario, Alex Moonias gazes east, then north. All he sees is undisturbed land, water and air. Some 100 kilometres from where he stands, the province plans to build a road as part of its pledge to mine the area, which is said to be rich in metals needed for electric vehicle batteries.

Life on the line

Life on the line

The First Nation has long been among the most vocal critics of plans to build a proposed road that would connect the Ring of Fire mineral deposit to the highway networks and manufacturing might of Ontario’s south. Now, they’re working to start a sturgeon stewardship program in an effort to protect the fish from proposed development. Even with the most optimistic of estimates, shovels for the proposed Ring of Fire project are years away from going into the ground, but people in Neskantaga First Nation feel a growing sense of urgency.

Joint news release: Neskantaga First Nation welcomes Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Indigenous Services, to community

Joint news release: Neskantaga First Nation welcomes Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Indigenous Services, to community

Neskantaga First Nation and Indigenous Services Canada Earlier this summer on July 23, Neskantaga First Nation welcomed the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (FedNor), to the community. The Minister's visit coincided with Neskantaga's Traditional Gathering that took place from July 18 to 21, 2022, which included various ceremonies, teachings and traditional activities at the Landsdowne House site—the former location of the community. The visit also coincided with the Neskantaga First Nation pow wow, which took place from July 22 to 24, 2022. Minister Hajdu joined community members and visitors for the Grand Entry ceremony as well as other community activities throughout the day.

‘Disrespected, violated, contaminated’: Researcher says safe drinking water shouldn’t fall solely on the backs of Indigenous peoples

‘Disrespected, violated, contaminated’: Researcher says safe drinking water shouldn’t fall solely on the backs of Indigenous peoples

Water is life. Don’t mess with it. That’s the message from one Indigenous cultural anthropologist and water researcher: nothing can live without water, yet we’re destroying it at a rapid pace. In 2015, the federal government campaigned to end all long-term drinking water advisories in First Nations communities by 2020. Two years after that promised date, water advisories are still present in 94 First Nations communities, with Neskantaga First Nation, an Ojibwe community more than 430 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, Ont., surpassing 10,000 days under a boil water advisory this week.

Neskantaga First Nation surpasses 10,000 days under a drinking water advisory

Neskantaga First Nation surpasses 10,000 days under a drinking water advisory

Neskantaga First Nation on Sunday marked its 10,000th day under a drinking water advisory, the longest period of time any First Nation in Canada has lived under such an advisory. The community of around 300 people approximately 450 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont., has survived without safe, clean tap water for more than 27 years.

Neskantaga First Nation's chief says residents don't support federal drinking water settlement

Neskantaga First Nation's chief says residents don't support federal drinking water settlement

Residents of some First Nations affected by unsafe drinking water can now file claims under a settlement with the federal government, but the chief of one northwestern Ontario community says they don't support the arrangement. "I just want to say that I'm not in agreement with the settlement," said Roy Moonias, a member of Neskantaga First Nation, which has been under a drinking-water advisory for nearly three decades. "I heard the community say the same thing. They're not in agreement."

/R E P E A T -- OPSEU/SEFPO: Clean and safe drinking water is a human right/

/R E P E A T -- OPSEU/SEFPO: Clean and safe drinking water is a human right/

On the eve of World Water Day, OPSEU/SEFPO President Warren (Smokey) Thomas and the OPSEU/SEFPO Indigenous Circle are challenging Ontario's political leaders to pass MPP Sol Mamakwa's Bill 286, the Inherent Right to Safe Drinking Water Act. Many First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in Ontario have been without clean water for years. Neskantaga First Nation in Northwestern Ontario had a boil water advisory issued on February 1, 1995. It's still in place today.

First Nations drinking water settlement open for claims from communities, individuals

First Nations drinking water settlement open for claims from communities, individuals

After a years-long fight for clean drinking water, Indigenous communities and individuals in Canada are a step closer to receiving money from a class-action lawsuit that was settled with the federal government for $8 billion last year. The claims process under the settlement opened up to submissions on Monday. Indigenous communities now have until Dec. 22 to file their claims, while individuals have until March 7, 2023.

Neskantaga First Nation taking Ontario to court over 'inadequate' consultation on Ring of Fire

Neskantaga First Nation taking Ontario to court over 'inadequate' consultation on Ring of Fire

Neskantaga First Nation is taking Ontario to court looking for "ground rules" on how the province should consult and accommodate Indigenous communities that are in a state of crisis. The remote Oji-Cree First Nation, located about 430 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, has been under a boil-water advisory for 26 years and a state of emergency since 2013, when seven people died by suicide in less than a year. Those issues have been compounded by the pandemic, leaving Neskantaga ill-equipped to engage in what the province has presented as consultation on a project to build a road through its territory to the mineral-rich Ring of Fire, community leaders say.