By Sonal Gupta, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer A remote northern Ontario First Nation’s daily struggle for safe drinking water is stuck in the middle of a political fight between the federal and provincial governments. Every morning, families of the Pikangikum First Nation wake up to a water crisis that has become routine. Most homes have no running water. Families start the day not with a shower, but with a trek to the lake — hauling buckets, breaking through ice in the winter and rationing bottled water when it’s available. Even the band office relies on a decaying septic tank and water tank with no plumbing. “Daily life is a very, very long day simply because people don’t have a direct water source,” said Carolina Budiman, senior health…
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