{"id":721370,"date":"2026-06-07T17:22:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-07T17:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/721370\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T17:22:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T17:22:29","slug":"worsening-water-crisis-in-ontario-first-nation-increasing-health-issues-fire-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/721370\/","title":{"rendered":"Worsening water crisis in Ontario First Nation increasing health issues, fire risk"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1:43
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPikangikum First Nation\u2019s water crisis worsens\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

Nearly 4,000 Pikangikum First Nation residents are living with only a few pails of water a day, which needs to be boiled before drinking, and leadership says the situation is getting rapidly worse.<\/p>\n

They say 300 homes are without direct water service while its 40-year-old water treatment plant is on its last legs.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

Band officials say the latest woe is a reservoir that\u2019s losing water four times faster than it can be filled. What little water can be generated is hauled by truck to communal distribution barrels but they\u2019re struggling to meet the most basic of water needs.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Receive<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGet weekly health news<\/p>\n

Receive the latest medical news and health information delivered to you every Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cFamily members haul a few buckets of water from the distribution point, pour it into a bathtub, that\u2019s the family\u2019s water until someone goes and gets more,\u201d says the community\u2019s lawyer, Yana Sobiski.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink about trying to clean up, cook, manage laundry \u2026 it\u2019s just the complexities of life in Pikangikum that are now normalized for people who live there and for the rest of us, it would be unheard of when you think about living in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adding to the concern is that the wildfire risk for northern Ontario is listed as extreme, and only four of 12 fire hydrants in the community work. Due to the water shortage, Sobiski says, there\u2019s little water pressure.<\/p>\n

She says health workers have reported an increase in people suffering from illnesses, infections and rashes related to lack of water.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore on Health
\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n

Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) tells Global News in an email that it\u2019s providing Pikangikum First Nation with more than $2 million in funding for water systems infrastructure and water truck delivery services in 2026-27 and is \u201cworking with Pikangikum during their current local state of emergency to ensure adequate access to clean drinking water and the safety of all residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

However, Chief Paddy Peters disputes that.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanada has been fully aware of the severity and urgency of this crisis for years \u2026 Nothing has changed,\u201d Peters said.<\/p>\n

ISC says $17 million in water upgrades were approved in January but there are \u201cchallenges and complexities\u201d with projects for the remote community without road access.<\/p>\n

Pikangikum is one of 39 First Nations with a long-term drinking water advisory despite a decade of Liberal promises to provide safe drinking water across Canada.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Pikangikum\u2019s lawsuit against Canada seeking $2 billion in damages and $200 million in emergency relief over the lack of safe water remains before a federal court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"1:43 Pikangikum First Nation\u2019s water crisis worsens Nearly 4,000 Pikangikum First Nation residents are living with only a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":721371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,151261,295,84,260766,66],"class_list":["post-721370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-clean-water","tag-environment","tag-health","tag-pikangikum-first-nation","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=721370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/721370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/721371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=721370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=721370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=721370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}