‘Showering so much’: Indigenous students from water crisis-stricken village enjoy abundance on Montreal trip

Water restored to northern Quebec village after months-long disruption.

A state of emergency over a water crisis in Puvirnituq, on the Northeast coast of Hudson Bay ended today, but the issues that slowed the availability of running water to the Inuit village linger.

Temporary solutions are in place but the pipe that froze, cutting off water to the community of 2,000 people, won’t be replaced until the fall. The school year was cut short but some of the students from the local high school are in Montreal for a six-day trip to learn but to also heal from the difficult three months they have just lived through.

“It was really hard, I couldn’t take any showers, and I had to go to school to brush my teeth because there was water there sometimes,” said 13-year-old Nevie Cadot. “It was really bad.”

Today, Cadot was splashing around in the backyard pool of the home where the seven students and three teachers are staying during their visit. Some of the other students along with their Inuktitut teacher, Lisi Alasuak, were sitting by the side of the pool. They have toured the Montreal Science Centre, and the Insectarium, and a shopping centre.

They are also enjoying abundant water, something they have missed at home in the North.

“I have been using a lot of water,” said student Annie Joy Irqu with a smile. “I am showering so much.”

The water crisis in their Inuit village broke out in mid-March. A protection mechanism on a pipeline connecting the pump station to the water treatment plant 2.5 kilometres away broke, causing the pipe to freeze. Water had to be trucked in and sewage trucked out. But that reduced the supply to a trickle as blizzards repeatedly made roads impassable.

Hospital ran out of water and gastrointestinal diseases spiked as hygiene became a major issue.

“People had to melt ice from outside to flush the toilet,” says Alasuak.

Puvirnituq declared a state of emergency after firefighters struggled to put out a house fire and Canadian Rangers were called to help distribute bottled water and provide logistical support to the community.

In mid-May, a temporary pipeline, resembling a hose lying on top of the remaining snow, was installed. But the town had to issue a warning for people not to pass over the exposed pipeline with snowmobiles after it was severed and had to be repaired.

For years, provincial and federal governments have promised to improve the availability of running water in communities in the North. But this crisis has renewed calls for more resources being invested in basic needs.

The students offered a few suggestions of what they would ask if they could talk to politicians.

“I would ask for pipes deep underground for unlimited water,” says Cadot. “But also, for better roads. The roads are really bad and bumpy, and the water trucks had a hard time getting through.”

For now, the students are enjoying being teens on a school trip spending a few days away from home.