12.02.2020 08:21 PM

If your government denied you clean water, what would you do?

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller drinks water at a press conference today.

Which thousands of the Indigenous people he claims to serve still cannot do.

21 Comments

  1. joe long says:

    Let’s see. Justin and his Liberals complain that the COVID pandemic is preventing them from keeping their promise to supply clean drinking water to First Nations.

    But didn’t work continue at Justin’s summer houses at Harrington Lake? I mean Justin has priorities!

  2. Steve Teller says:

    This was a misguided promise from the start.

    There is an honest (yet difficult) conversation that needs to happen, but no one wants to have it. Some First Nations are located in places where completely clean drinking water will always be impossible. The fantasy that anyone can live anywhere and have city-like services needs to end. This same issue is why food is atrociously expensive for some First Nations, and/or impossible to deliver at certain times of the year.

    So long as we keep trying to turn remote isolated communities into cities, we will have this problem. Paying to relocate First Nations into more habitable locations would save a huge amount of money and grief long-term.

    • the real Sean says:

      100% agree.

    • Steve,

      I see the logic in your approach but what do you do when a given First Nation’s attachment to the land prevents a possible move to an area where clean drinking water can be remedied over the short to medium term? You don’t want such a standoff to degenerate into another Oka Crisis so I’m glad I’m never going to be the negotiator on that type of call.

  3. Peter says:

    When Conservatives call every goddamn thing a scandal then scandals become unremarkable.

    • Warren says:

      Pardon, guy who hides his name? This isn’t a scandal?

      • Peter says:

        No it isn’t. Nor is dressing in local attire or visiting a friends boat. The majority of Canadians don’t see a scandal with vaccines either. As for hiding my name when commenting on line, you have to be kidding me. Have you noticed the whack jobs out there.

        • Ronald O'Dowd says:

          Peter,

          When it’s our time, it’s our time. Whack jobs or no whack jobs.

          Reminds me of all those disingenuous and relatively insignificant politicians who usually have nothing significant or even remotely relevant to say in droves on Twitter but suddenly chicken out at the very first opportunity on this website, or elsewhere, when they’re actually telling us what they genuinely believe, for a pleasant change…that says it all in my book. Same MO, just different parties.

          • Peter says:

            I have kids and grandkids. I wouldn’t for one second expose them or myself to any unnecessary risk. That’s risk of injury or embarrassment. Besides, stating a full name is not necessarily stating a fact.

          • Dave says:

            Anyone else think that Peters the new Mike…….. I miss Mike.

      • Fred J Pertanson says:

        Trudeau’s modus operandi: over-promise, under-deliver.

        Have a good day, Warren. Congrats on 20 years as a blogger. Keep it up!

    • Pedant says:

      Well gee Peter.

      I guess compared to Bev Oda’s orange juice – to which the Liberals and their paid media toadies shrieked and stamped their feet for weeks or even months – poisonous water for First Nations is a big nothingburger.

      • Pedant,

        At least Oda was smart enough not to pour any champagne in it. LOL.

      • Peter says:

        This is the problem with partisans like you Pedant. You compare a simple thing like not paying 30 bucks for a glass of orange juice with the highly complex and difficult job of cleaning up drinking water on remote reservations. This is why Conservatives have little credibility.

        • Pedant says:

          Like most leftists, you’re changing the subject and obfuscating the issue.

          What I’m responding to is your claim that Conservatives turn everything into a scandal. Considering the Liberals and their media allies turned Bev Oda’s orange juice into the crime of the decade, it would seem that it is they, and not the Conservatives, who are more likely to overreact to whatever news comes across the wire.

          Or do you think that Bev Oda’s $16 orange juice is a more serious issue than poisonous water for First Nations?

          It’s funny how you even insisted on lying about the orange juice – now it was $30 was it! You just can’t help yourself.

          • Ronald O'Dowd says:

            Pedant,

            As both a Conservative member and supporter, in addition to a progressive by nature (Red Tory), I don’t waste my time with one-up-man-ship. Both Liberals and Conservatives, along with other progressives are generally hypocrites and most do exactly what you’ve described when it suits their purposes. I like to keep it real and simple.

          • Peter says:

            Let me make this simple for you. Grossly overpaying for something with taxpayer money when any fool should know better is in fact, scandalous. Not accomplishing an extremely difficult think like eradicating poisonous water on reservations in a certain time period is not scandalous.

          • There are scandals, like the Orange Juice and there are tragedies, like the water situation on reserves, lack of support for mental health and greenhouse gas emissions.

            For some reason the scandals get all the attention.

  4. Nick M. says:

    I don’t know why this government fails to deliver on almost everything that requires more than handing out cash. Once coordination, procurement, engineering, etc. is required, nothing happens.

    Are the failures squarely the result of this government? Or do federal government bureaucracies simply underperform compared to provincial bureaucracies?

    • Ronald O'Dowd says:

      Nick,

      That’s because our ever so clever Prime Minister actually thinks he’s already bought off most Canadians for the next election. Right. Keep thinking that.

  5. Gord says:

    I think they need to send in the auditors. I cannot for the life of me understand how we have shovelled billions and billions of taxpayer dollars into DIAND/INAC/AAND/Indigenous Services over the last thirty years with precious little to show for it, and Indigenous people still living in third world conditions.

    Once the auditors are done, it might be a matter for the Mounties.

Leave a Reply to Peter Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.