AFN marks World Water Day with 105 First Nations under drinking water advisories
Press release
Assembly of First Nations Marks World Water Day: “Canada must redouble efforts to reach UN Millennium Development goals”
March 22, 2010 - (Ottawa, ON) – Today, on World Water Day, National Chief Shawn At-in-chut Atleo and Regional Chief Roger Augustine who holds the national portfolio for Environment and the Economy at the Assembly of First Nations noted that, despite earlier progress, the number of First Nations communities under drinking water advisories has not been reduced significantly since last year. As of January 31, 2010 Health Canada reported that 105, approximately 16 %, of First Nations communities across Canada were under drinking water advisories, compared to 107 communities last Spring.
The lack of access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation is further substantiated by the 2003 First Nations Regional Health Survey (RHS) which found that nearly one-third of respondents (32.3%) considered their main water supply not to be safe for drinking and that about one in thirty First Nations households lack running water (hot and cold) or flush toilets.
“Canada must take greater action in addressing access to water in First Nations communities or it will fail to meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goal of cutting in half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015,” said Regional Chief Roger Augustine. “Canada will be putting maternal and child health in the developing world at the top of the agenda at the G-8 summit later this year, but have failed to address conditions that create a third-world level of risk to health in First Nations communities at home. “
National Chief Shawn Atleo noted that First Nations must be fully involved in developing their own solutions to drinking water and waste water management as well as the related issues of source water and water shed protection planning.
“We are encouraged by words spoken in the Speech from the Throne stating that Canada will make safe drinking water and effective waste-water treatment on-reserve a national priority. First Nations want to participate and be fully consulted in the drafting of any legislation to further this goal, in a manner that recognizes our rights and our rights to water,” said National Chief Atleo. “Indigenous peoples have solutions to offer based on our experience as well as our traditional knowledge, including observations about how climate change is effecting our environments.”
World Water Day originated at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.
The Millennium Development Goals grew out of a commitment made in 2000, to the United Nations Millennium Declaration which aims to reduce extreme poverty by 2015 with a series of time-bound targets.
The Assembly of First Nations is the national organization representing First Nations citizens in Canada.
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Contact information:
Karyn Pugliese, A/Communications Director
Assembly of First Nations
613-292-1877