Hajdu looking at 'realistic timeline' to end First Nations boil water advisories
Canada's new minister of Indigenous services says she's considering what the new timeline should be to lift remaining long-term drinking-water advisories on First Nations.
Patty Hajdu enters the role with 43 advisories still in place in 31 different communities mostly in Ontario, but also in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to end all drinking-water advisories by 2021 when the Liberals were swept to power in 2015.
Six years later, his government says it helped end 119 long-term boil-water advisories, but missed their own deadline to end all of them.
A federal government website dedicated to the issue shows even as some advisories were removed, more were added.
Hajdu says she hasn't set a new deadline because she's looking at what barriers exist to end the remaining 43 and what stage each community is at in terms of fixing the problems.
"I'm considering that now, in terms of what a realistic timeline is, and how we do it in a way that is respectful to some of the limitations that communities have and the priorities that communities have," she told The Canadian Press in an interview.
While she mulls timelines for the work, Hajdu says she doesn't want to commit anyone to "an artificial deadline that isn't going to actually help accelerate the work in any way."
She says complicating matters for some First Nations is their remote location, which limits their window to ship in materials and construction teams to do the work.
Critics of Trudeau's reconciliation efforts point to the missed deadline for ending all drinking-water advisories as evidence he has failed to live up to the commitments he's made to Indigenous Peoples.
Reconciliation remains high on the Liberals' agenda, but as they enter their third mandate they do so facing more scrutiny around what progress has been achieved compared to what's been announced.
Adding to that are louder calls for justice coming from Indigenous communities and more non-Indigenous Canadians, after First Nations confirmed the discovery of what are believed to be hundreds of unmarked graves of Indigenous children forced to attend residential schools.
Hajdu says she understands expectations are high as she steps into her new role but plans to manage those expectations by being honest about what she and the government can do and "what isn't feasible."
Her department is tasked with providing services to First Nations residents living on reserve, which includes housing and a clean water supply, mental health and child-welfare supports.
She said it's hard to answer a question about whether the government has done its best to manage expectations to date.
In the early days, Hajdu recalls, there was a desire to get the work done quickly, which she adds still exists today.
"You become, I think, increasingly wise over the years to what some of those significant challenges are," she said of the realities facing First Nations, particularly remote ones.
Hajdu, who spent the last two years as the health minister, said handling that file when the world was eclipsed by the COVID-19 pandemic has helped prepare her for the new job.
During the Liberals' first term as the minister for the status of women, she also assisted with the rollout of the government's inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
Now as the minister overseeing Indigenous Services Canada, Hajdu believes Ottawa has to play the role as facilitator for what First Nations need, and says she expects her department to be laser-focused on promoting their autonomy.
"I will do anything," she said.
"If a First Nation is saying, 'We have the solution, you haven't been able to provide us with the help that we need and this is the tangible help that we need that will that will crack the code,' I want to know that."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2021
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
W5 Investigates Threats, slashed tires: How cities are trying to rein in clothing donation bin chaos
In the final part of a four-part investigation into the seedy underbelly of the lucrative clothing donation bin industry, CTV W5's Jon Woodward and Joseph Loiero look at how some cities are trying to rein in the chaos.
NEW Canadian woman dies awaiting repatriation from Syria
A Quebec mother of six, once detained in northeast Syria, has died while waiting for repatriation. The Canadian woman was known only by her initials F.J.
Majority of Canadians would vote for Kamala Harris in U.S. election: poll
If Canadians could vote in the U.S. election, a majority would choose to send Kamala Harris to the White House.
Former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model says Trump groped her to show off for Jeffrey Epstein
A former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model is alleging that former President Donald Trump groped her in the 1990s, in what she believes was an attempt to show off for Jeffrey Epstein.
New regulations allow Canada Post to ship restricted firearms returned in gun buyback
The federal government is giving Canada Post the ability to store and transport restricted firearms in new regulations that bring the retail gun buyback program one step closer to beginning.
Stunning fossil trapped in amber reveals previously unknown species that lived during the time of dinosaurs
Diverse firefly species lit up the night during the late Mesozoic period, scientists have confirmed.
More straight couples are calling each other partner. Here's why
Within a year of dating, 31-year-old Siara Rouzer crossed a major relationship milestone. The guy she was seeing was no longer a boyfriend but her partner.
ABCs of horror: Movie recommendations for Halloween
From apparitions to zombies, this season offers up a variety of scary movies, and film critic Richard Crouse has put together a list to help you find the perfect horror movie to watch on Halloween.
The Maritime Sikh Society says the body of a young employee who died at a Walmart in Halifax last weekend was found by her mother.
Local Spotlight
A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.
Hundreds of people ran to the music of German composer and pianist Beethoven Wednesday night in a unique race in Halifax.
He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.
A meteor lit up our region's sky last night – with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.
Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.
A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.
A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.
A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.
Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.