Oneida Nation of the Thames gets $43 million from Feds for clean drinking water
CBC
Oneida Nation of the Thames, an Indigenous community near London, Ont., that has been on a boil water advisory since 2019, has secured $43 million in federal funding to bring treated drinking water to their community.
The connection to the Lake Huron Primary Water System will supply potable water to more than 500 homes and public buildings to the community, which has a population of 2,000.
A boil water advisory has been in effect on Oneida since September 2019 and became long-term in September 2020. Problems with low water quality and limited water pressure forced the community to declare a state of emergency in December.
Chief Todd Cornelius said he's elated at the news, which comes after months of lobbying Indigenous Services Canada.
"Water is life." said Cornelius. "It's been a long road, and while we have been resilient, we know that clean water is vital to the overall health of our community. I look forward to the day when our community can drink water by simply turning on their tap. It's time to get to work on making this a reality. I want to thank the people of Oneida and the administration who have endured this process and worked to finalize this agreement."
Brandon Doxtator is Oneida's environmental co-ordinator. He said members of the community were told the news at a meeting on Wednesday.
"It was such a powerful response," he told CBC News. "People were clapping, they were excited. We're eager to see this next phase."
Doxtator said the water problems in the community have been a source of daily frustration.
"Water is a sacred force and being within the Great Lakes, which is one fifth of all the fresh water in the world, and having a water quality and quantity issue just doesn't make sense to me."
The water infrastructure project is expected to be completed in about 18 to 24 months. Doxtator said with the money in place, the next step is to hire a team of engineers to oversee the project and create detailed designs for the pipeline
Doxtator said the money will cover the cost of bringing the water into Oneida and upgrading the distribution system to 12-inch diameter lines from four- or six-inch lines.
However, the money won't cover the cost of adding fire hydrants and other fire protection infrastructure inside Oneida. That's been an issue in the community particularly after a tragic house fire in 2016 killed five members of one family. Doxtator said fire protection will be added as the community grows.
In January, CBC News reported that Oneida had struck a supply agreement with the Lake Huron water system to have an 18-kilometre pipe built to carry water to their community to a connection point at Springwell Road and Falconbridge Drive near Mt. Brydges, Ont.
The Lake Huron Primary Water Supply System supplies treated Lake Huron water to 15 municipalities across an area the size of Prince Edward Island. Parts of London, along with Middlesex Centre, Strathroy-Caradoc, Lucan-Biddulph, Grand Bend and others, are supplied by the system.
It's small things, like a cigarette or a pair of clean socks, Rachel Montour says, that can go a long way to make you feel more human when you’re out on the street.
Several dozen members of Windsor's Chaldean community and its supporters celebrated in the cold at the corner of Marentette Avenue and Wyandotte Street East Friday, as city officials gave a secondary name to the section of Marentette between Wyandotte and Tuscarora Street: Chaldean Way.
Allison Hill says she tries to make people’s experience at the Thunder Bay Food Bank “as pleasant as possible.”
Two years after a man went missing in Scarborough, Toronto police are renewing the investigation in hopes that the public will bring forward more information.
A musical instrument created in Guelph, Ont., has been thrust onto the international stage — or rather, screen.
More than 1,000 Maritime Electric customers are without power after high winds blew across the Island Friday night into Saturday.
The Supreme Court of Canada is deliberating a case that could shape the way sentences are handed down in cases where both the offender and victim are Indigenous, which some Nunavut lawyers say could have ramifications for the Inuit-majority territory.
A man barricaded in a former church in Welland, Ont., was taken into custody early Saturday, nearly 24 hours into a standoff that began over a fence dispute.
Peel police are investigating after a Friday night shooting in Mississauga left one person dead, police said.
Another busy construction season has come to an end in London, and the city is already looking ahead to next spring when a slew of new projects are expected to begin.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has begun to lay out publicly what he sees as boundaries when dealing with China, as his government wades into a new relationship with the economic giant.
Ferry crossings are cancelled and over a thousand households are left without power Saturday morning, due to high winds and severe weather conditions.
Tens of thousands of Nova Scotia Power customers are waking up without power on Saturday morning after high winds and rain hit the province on Friday night.