Canada's Indigenous Affairs: Still Poisoning Water Since 1867
Al Jazeera brings us a video update on the Grassy Narrows First Nation, still battling the Canadian government over poisoned water—a saga stretching back to the 1960s when a paper mill dumped 10 tons of mercury into their river. While Ottawa is quick to issue apologies for 'historical wrongs,' the present-day reality of systemic neglect for Indigenous communities, particularly on infrastructure
like clean water, persists. The Canadian government, which manages trillions in natural resources, somehow can't manage to provide safe drinking water to its own Indigenous populations, with communities facing boil-water advisories for years, even decades. ($178 billion in resource revenue for 2023-2024, yet fixing a water treatment plant remains elusive.) Perhaps the problem isn't resources, but
a deep-seated prioritization of resource extraction over human rights. One might wonder if the government's concern for "human rights abroad" is as robust as its disinterest in those at home.