In a G8 nation well-endowed with fresh water, many Canadians still struggle to acquire the potable kind.
Health Canada reported almost 2,000 boil-water advisories across the country last year.
The town mayor compares it to Third World conditions. He says residents knowingly drink unsafe levels of E. coli, even winding up with stomach problems, because they don't have much of a choice.
In April 2008, the Canadian Medical Association Journal reported there were 1,766 provincial boil-water advisories across the country – plus 93 warnings in First Nations communities. It estimated that 90 Canadians die annually from tainted water.
This year, 113 First Nations were under drinking-water advisories on July 31, Health Canada said.
But Steve Hrudey, a University of Alberta water expert, says drinking-water advisories were designed for emergencies, not everyday life.
“To have boil-water advisories in place for months and years, as is the case in a number of Canadian communities, is basically saying ‘We don't want to know,' ” Hrudey said.
Governments should be doing more to ensure smaller communities have access to clean water, he said.
“I think in a country as rich as Canada, to be paying as little attention to small community water supplies as we are, is really kind of sad,” Hrudey said.
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