Why the feds’ $1.7B investment in new infrastructure in First Nations hasn’t accounted for climate change – National Observer

February 24th 2021

“Clean water, broken promises” is a collaborative investigation into obstacles First Nations are encountering during the Trudeau government’s push to ensure communities are able to deliver clean drinking water to residents. You can find the full series here.

Located on Lake Huron’s Manitoulin Island, Zhiibaahaasing First Nation is a small community in Ontario with just 182 registered members, 65 of whom live on reserve. Roughly two dozen buildings line its main road and three side streets, with powwow grounds at the centre.

A kilometre to the north, the nation’s water treatment plant, built in 2013, sits at the lake’s edge. Last June, roughly seven years after its construction, flooding forced the plant to shut down and the First Nation to declare a state of emergency.