‘We’re begging for change’: Pimicikamak declares state of emergency over water crisis

Pimicikamak Cree Nation said its decades-old water treatment system can’t keep up with the community’s needs.

Residents that began returning to a northern Manitoba First Nation last week after a wildfire threat are now facing a water crisis.

“Our people need water, plain and simple,” Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias told CTV News, whose community is now under a state of emergency.

Monias said community members rely on two outdated water treatment plants that are between 35 and 45 years old for clean water, but he says they can no longer keep up with the community’s needs.

He said parts for the “archaic” treatment system that pulls water in from the Nelson River are difficult to find and a breakdown several weeks ago left the community’s south side without running water.

He estimates the treatment plant’s failure directly impacts approximately 30 per cent of residents—including a school meant for 800 students and a $55 million health centre.

“We had some really bad incidents where they really need to sanitize the areas that are in the emergency rooms, and they need to make sure that they’re having good clean water to be able to function … It just seems like we’re running into problems after problems,” he said.

Monias said the federal government previously committed funding for the development of a new water plant, but said delays, including the federal election in April, have stalled the process.

“Since that time, nothing’s moved, nothing has happened,” he said. “We’re begging for change.”

A spokesperson for Mandy Gull-Masty, Minister of Indigenous Services, told CTV News in a statement that Indigenous Services Canada is working with engineers, contractors and leaders to help solve the problems with the community’s water system.

“Minister Gull-Masty has reached out to Chief Monias and is working to meet in the coming weeks and days to discuss the future process for the community,” said the statement.

Pimicikamak—also known as Cross Lake—is located approximately 530 kilometres north of Winnipeg.