First Nations’ drinking water an issue ‘of utmost importance’

By Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source OGOKI POST — According to Indigenous Services Canada, 23 First Nations in Ontario are under long-term drinking water advisories. One such community is Marten Falls First Nation, at the junction of the Albany and Ogoki rivers. “Marten Falls has been under a boil water advisory for close to 20 years,” Chief Bruce Achneepineskum said Tuesday in a phone interview. “That’s a long time.” Achneepineskum agrees with the Chiefs of Ontario that clean tap water in First Nations is a highly important issue in the April 28 federal election. The chiefs organization wants the next federal government to revive Bill C-61, clean-water legislation for First Nations that died on the order paper the moment Parliament was prorogued in January. “Ensuring that…

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