Indigenous community files $200-million lawsuit against Ottawa over unclean drinking water

Globe and Mail

08-05-2025

A northwestern Ontario First Nation has filed a $200-million lawsuit against Ottawa, citing its failure to provide clean drinking water and sanitation services to the community of about 4,000 members.
Pikangikum First Nation, near the town of Red Lake, is asking the Federal Court of Canada to require the federal government to pay a $200-million lump sum into a trust that can be used to provide emergency potable water, sewage and fire prevention services.
The lawsuit argues that the government breached its common law duties and constitutional obligations to Pikangikum by failing to make sure the semi-remote community had access to basic infrastructure.
'Conditions related to water supply, water quality, sewage, sanitation, and fire prevention have been in an emergency state at the Pikangikum reserve for decades,' the lawsuit alleges. 'Most homes on the reserve lack basic utilities such as running water, sanitation facilities and infrastructure for wastewater removal.'
Pikangikum said it asked for $60-million from Ottawa in February of this year to make immediate repairs to its water and wastewater system, but the government has not approved its request.
The reserve has been forced to declare a state of emergency on numerous occasions, including in 2000, 2011 and 2015, over the lack of potable or running water. The reserve was under long- and short-term drinking water advisories for decades. Its current long-term drinking water advisory has been in place since February, 2024.
There is no water available to residents after 8 p.m. each night and until 7 a.m. because of water-conservation measures.
'Pikangikum's ageing and inadequate wastewater treatment facilities cannot meet the community's demands, often leading to sewage spills or discharge of waste into the community's source water, Pikangikum Lake, and water triaging, rationing and curfews,' the lawsuit said.
The First Nation said the single water treatment plant is on the brink of failure and very few homes in Pikangikum have the plumbing required to access clean water. Most residents collect potable water from eight water spigots, although only four are operational.
Of the 521 housing units in Pikangikum, only 29 have piped water service, while 172 units have trucked water service and 320 have no water at all. Of the 12 fire hydrants in the community, only four are functional and connected to the water supply.
'Due to the lack of functioning fire-prevention infrastructure, even a minor fire can quickly become dangerous,' the lawsuit said, adding that an average of six homes are burnt down each year.
The allegations have not been tested in court.
Chief Paddy Peters said in a statement Thursday that he's been living without running water and a washroom since he was first elected chief at the age of 30. Now 68, the recently re-elected leader says his household has to wash from the same bowl of water each morning.
'This is the same situation as my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, and my entire community.'
Chief Peters said it's inhumane to have to wait for Indigenous Services Canada to provide the bare minimum.
'In 2025, our people still draw their drinking water from the lake because there is no trust that our treated water is safe to drink,' he said.
The federal Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
While Pikangikum has previously made national headlines for its suicide crises, it's often quietly recognized as having almost 100-per-cent Anishinaabemowin fluency rate among all members. Street signs marking the dusty gravel roads are in both English and Ojibway syllabics.
However, parents and grandparents are concerned that children are speaking more English because of increasing engagement on the internet with streaming and gaming apps such as YouTube.
The local women take pride in their unique dress code of the homemade, often plaid, cotton dresses worn over leggings. A sewing room in the local Eenchokay Birchstick school is dedicated to practising the tradition, with a colourful setup of sewing machines, shelves crammed with stacks of fabrics and rainbows of thread spools.
But the community is also making room for revitalized traditions and students recently made their first jingle dresses and ribbon shirts.
Pikangikum is also paving the way, literally, with the Berens River bridge project. The construction of the first all-season road in the region will connect six remote communities that are fly-in only with the exception of the winter road that has become unpredictable with climate change.