Latest news with #IanLafrenière
CBC
24-06-2025
- Health
- CBC
Review underway into Puvirnituq, Que., water crisis, as province negotiates new agreement
New 3rd-party review expected to be completed by September A third-party review is now underway into the cause of a severe water shortage in Puvirnituq, Que., earlier this year. For months, the village of 2,100 people grappled with a water delivery and sewage crisis, after a water pipeline that connects the pump station to the treatment plant froze mid-March. At times, the local hospital ran out of water and had to fly some patients south for care. Nunavik's chief public health officer also warned that illnesses like gastroenteritis (stomach flu) could spread rapidly as the water shortage affected access to sanitation. Severe weather conditions also made it difficult to complete water deliveries, which eventually triggered a state of emergency in May that lasted almost three weeks. The emergency ended earlier this month after a temporary water pipeline bypass was installed. On Friday, local, regional and provincial leaders met in Puvirnituq to discuss the path forward. Ian Lafrenière, Quebec's minister responsible for relations with First Nations and the Inuit, said he wants to understand what exactly triggered the crisis. "We know that the main pipe froze, but why is that? Is it because of maintenance? Is it because of a lack of proper equipment?" he said. Kativik Regional Government officials told CBC News at the time that a heating wire, which prevents water from freezing during the winter, had reached the end of its life. Hilda Snowball, chairperson of the Kativik Regional Government (KRG), believes the third-party review, which is expected to be complete by September, will highlight how outdated Nunavik's water infrastructure is, and how more funding is needed. "All these discussions will be had after the report comes out, and we will push to have a strategic plan in place for Puvirnituq, as well as the other communities that are facing issues with their infrastructure," she said. Finding new communications channels Lafreniere acknowledges there was a lot of pressure on the village during those few months, but he said it was difficult to get information about what was happening in Puvirnituq. At times, he said he found out about some issues from the media. "One part of the diagnostic that I made very clear with all my colleagues on Friday was to establish what are the responsibilities of everybody, from KRG, the municipality, to us as a government," he said. "At the end of the day, we're not trying to do some finger-pointing, we're just trying to find a solution for the future." For her part, Snowball said KRG was in constant communication with Lafreniere's office, though there were other provincial departments that cancelled some meetings. "We will for sure push to have better communications as well," she said. Negotiating a new 2-year funding agreement Improving communications is important, Lafreniere said, especially now as the province negotiates a new two-year funding agreement for municipal infrastructure projects. A priority for him in those discussions is to not implement a paternalistic approach to the partnership, which includes Makivvik and KRG. "We want to give them all the autonomy that they deserve, but we still get that partnership," he said. Snowball acknowledges that KRG has several different funding arrangements with the province, but existing deals for municipal infrastructure are no longer sufficient. "With the [current] five-year agreement that we have, most of the funding is already allocated. The increase of the cost, the materials, even renovations is in the millions now. It used to be in the [hundreds of] thousands, but they're now in the millions," she said. "If there is a project, there is a certain percentage that the community has to pay. It's impossible for some of the communities to deal with that." As for long-term changes to Nunavik's water infrastructure, Lafreniere said there are several options they're studying, including utilidors into homes, drilling for groundwater, and creating a direct water line to schools and hospitals. However, in the face of a changing climate and melting permafrost, he said there are no perfect solutions. "So instead of doing something that is not going to be appropriate in 10, 15, 20 years [time], we want to make sure to find a good solution," he said.
Hamilton Spectator
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Quebec launches review of Puvirnituq water crisis
The Quebec government is launching an independent review of the Puvirnituq water crisis to determine the causes and a path forward, says Ian Lafrenière, the minister responsible for relations with First Nations and the Inuit. 'We're not looking for a Band-Aid solution. I want to see how we can do better, what could be done, what's feasible. This is a priority for us,' Lafrenière said Tuesday in an interview with Nunatsiaq News. He visited Puvirnituq for a few hours on June 20 for the first time since the state of emergency was declared in Nunavik's second-largest community of roughly 2,100. The state of emergency lasted 20 days, ending June 6. The water crisis was spurred by a break in the main pipeline that brings water from the river to the treatment plant in the village. The struggles started March 18 with a boil water advisory issued by the village. Untreated water had to be trucked into the village. But that effort was hampered by weather conditions and some of the trucks being out of service requiring repair. Health centre patients and long-term care residents were sent south during that time. On May 17, after a fire in the community , local leadership declared a 10-day state of emergency. It was extended May 27 for another 10 days until June 6. In that time, the Quebec government airlifted 145,000 litres of bottled water to Puvirnituq and Canadian Rangers were deployed to help during the crisis. A temporary 2.9-kilometre pipeline was installed in late May to connect the pump at the river to the water filtration plant. Lafrenière said he doesn't know how long the temporary pipe will be able to sustain the community — that's one of the issues the government is continuing to monitor. Because of supply issues for repair parts, a permanent fix to the five-kilometre Puvirnituq pipe might take a year and cost between $5 million and $10 million instead of an initial estimate of $300,000, said Hossein Shafeghati, Kativik Regional Government's public works director. Lafrenière didn't say whether the government of Quebec will commit to picking up the cost to replace the pipeline. 'Before committing, we are waiting for the budget and we'll see how we can help,' he said, adding the crisis is something the Quebec government and Kativik Regional Government will 'deal with together.' Through a review of the emergency that will be conducted by an independent company, the Quebec government hopes to determine the origins of the emergency and possible solutions. As well, the goal is to establish how the government can learn from the crisis and be better prepared to respond in the future, Lafrenière said. 'It's going to be a learning event for us. We hope it's not going to happen [again], but if it does we will be ready,' Lafrenière said. Findings from the review are expected to be released in the fall. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
CBC
18-06-2025
- General
- CBC
New 911 call centre aims to change the way calls are dispatched in northern communities
More residents in Nunavik will soon be served by a new emergency call centre opening in Saint-Eustache Que., just outside of Montreal. Dispatchers will respond to 911 calls from five of Quebec's northern communities in the hopes of improving emergency response, says Ian Lafrenière, Quebec's Indigenous affairs minister. He made the announcement Tuesday alongside officials from the Kativik Regional Government as well as Saint-Eustache and Nunavik police. This new call centre is an extension of a pilot project that was launched in March 2023 following the death of a police officer in Kuujjuaq in 2013. A commission into his death found emergency call service in the region needed to be improved. The volume of calls has increased since then — highlighting the need for a dedicated space to support the volume. Before this system, residents were often connected right to a police officer on the ground, says Shaun Longstreet, deputy chief for the Nunavik Police Service. Using a 10-digit phone number for emergencies, residents would be calling police officers directly on their radio, in public, he says. "If we're out in an intervention where we have to arrest someone, and then the call comes in, we have to arrest and speak with the person and take all the information," explained Longstreet. He says the approach is "just something that's not acceptable in 2025." Lafrenière says the very fact that emergency calls were dispatched directly through the radio meant there wasn't always a secure line. But he says now, things are changing. Aim to extend service to all 14 communities by 2029 The provincial government is contributing more than $4 million to the Kativik Regional Government to support this project. At the existing call centre in Saint-Eustache, Lafrenière says three Nunavik communities were covered by this service. Now, dispatchers will be answering 911 calls from five villages in Nunavik, which he says will soon increase to seven — with the goal of extending the service to all 14 communities by the end of 2029. "The purpose was just to try it," said Lafrenière. "And with no surprise, it worked perfectly." He says dispatchers on site were specially trained with language and culture top of mind. Many dispatchers also travelled up to Nunavik to meet with individuals from the communities to help them better understand "the realities," he says. Other communities were consulted to take on this initiative, including Iqaluit and Cree communities, but they did not have the capacity, said Lafrenière. He notes that the dispatchers in Saint-Eustache speak English but if callers only speak Inuktitut, the dispatchers have a chart with helpful words and also the option of transferring the call to a translation system, he says. "Dispatchers are excited," said Thierry Vallières, director of police in Saint-Eustache. He says currently, about 96 per cent of calls that come in are in English. But with added stress, callers might revert to their first language of Inuktitut, which is why he says it's a priority to find more speakers to join the team soon.
Hamilton Spectator
18-05-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Nunavik village declares state of emergency after fire breaks out amid water shortage
MONTREAL - A village in Quebec's Far North has declared a state of emergency after a fire ravaged two homes in the community, which is already struggling with a months-long water shortage. The municipal council for Puvirnituq, Que., an Inuit community in the Nunavik region, made the decision Saturday after crews struggled to contain a blaze that ignited at around 3 p.m. In a Facebook post late Saturday night, Mayor Lucy Qalingo said two homes were lost and that federal and provincial governments should 'stop ignoring' the needs of northern communities she characterized as 'forgotten Canadians.' The persistent water shortages in Puvirnituq prompted the Quebec government to begin evacuating patients from a health facility there earlier this week. Its 2,100 residents have been without consistent water deliveries for about two months after a water main froze in a blizzard in mid-March. The village has instead been forced to bring in water by truck in extreme weather on icy, snowy roads. Quebec says the health centre has reported an increase in people seeking treatment for gastroenteritis amid the water shortage. Ian Lafrenière, the minister responsible for Indigenous affairs, said in a statement on social media that fire crews indicate the water pipe should be restored 'shortly.' He says some 54 tonnes of water have been hauled via overpass to the village and distributed to residents since Friday afternoon. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
18-05-2025
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Nunavik village declares state of emergency after fire breaks out amid water shortage
MONTREAL – A village in Quebec's Far North has declared a state of emergency after a fire ravaged two homes in the community, which is already struggling with a months-long water shortage. The municipal council for Puvirnituq, Que., an Inuit community in the Nunavik region, made the decision Saturday after crews struggled to contain a blaze that ignited at around 3 p.m. In a Facebook post late Saturday night, Mayor Lucy Qalingo said two homes were lost and that federal and provincial governments should 'stop ignoring' the needs of northern communities she characterized as 'forgotten Canadians.' The persistent water shortages in Puvirnituq prompted the Quebec government to begin evacuating patients from a health facility there earlier this week. Its 2,100 residents have been without consistent water deliveries for about two months after a water main froze in a blizzard in mid-March. The village has instead been forced to bring in water by truck in extreme weather on icy, snowy roads. Quebec says the health centre has reported an increase in people seeking treatment for gastroenteritis amid the water shortage. Ian Lafrenière, the minister responsible for Indigenous affairs, said in a statement on social media that fire crews indicate the water pipe should be restored 'shortly.' He says some 54 tonnes of water have been hauled via overpass to the village and distributed to residents since Friday afternoon. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 18, 2025.
