Land Acknowledgment
Water The Facts About BWA’S acknowledges that Indigenous Peoples are the traditional guardians of this land that we call Canada. That we have a duty to acknowledge the relationship to the land upon which Indigenous Peoples live and work, and to prioritize initiatives that support reconciliation with local Indigenous communities. Reconciliation can only be achieved when all Canadians have expressed sincere commitment to learning about our shared past, listening to Indigenous truths, and participate in the peaceful, collaboration of an inclusive future.
"Environmental Racism is... the problem of disproportionate exposure of Indigenous communities, of black communities, and other communities of colour to environmental burdens, to pollutants, and contaminants; but it is also about the slow response of the government, to address these issues."
- Dr. Ingrid Waldron, PhD Author of There's Something in the Water
Opening the Taps for Clean Water
This project began in 2020, and was created as part of a Term Project for a course at the University of Alberta called: Renewable Resources 480 Applied Statistics for Environmental Sciences.
Water the Facts about Boil Water Advisories (WATFA: Boil Water Advisories)
Quenching The Thirst for Indigenous Rights for Clean Water.
Project team:
Kailee Goertzen; Zena Leclercq; Rachelle Renaud
Contact: For more information please contact: [email protected]
Water the Facts about Boil Water Advisories (WATFA: Boil Water Advisories)
Quenching The Thirst for Indigenous Rights for Clean Water.
Project team:
Kailee Goertzen; Zena Leclercq; Rachelle Renaud
Contact: For more information please contact: [email protected]
Project Summary |
Our goal is to represent the data on boil water advisories (BWA's) in Canadian Indigenous communities in a way that will strengthen evidence-based decision making when government intervention is required to improve water quality. We hope to inspire a call to action, to improve the quality of water on First Nation Communities, ending long term boil water advisories, improving the health, and wellbeing of those impacted.
There are several factors motivating this research:
- First, Indigenous community members have articulated that water quality is an area of concern
- Secondly, since water is also considered to be a sacred component of Indigenous culture it is critical to rectify water quality as a means of reconciliation
- Finally, it is important to interpret this data for the general public in a manner that is digestible
WhAT IS A BOIL water advisory?
A Boil Water Advisory is issued when disease causing viruses, bacteria, or parasites are known or suspected to be present in a community's water system. Boiling the water before consumption is recommended to reduce the chance of negative water related health impacts (FNHA, 2020).
Data Collection
The collection of real population data was sourced from Health Canada on boil water advisories in Canadian Indigenous communities from 1997-2017. It consists of Region, Indigenous community, Water system, Infrastructure type, advisory type, date set, and date revoked. We added effect days, federal government and the year.
Study Design
Data was imported into R, a statistical computing and graphical software, to create figures, and for statistical testing.
Results/Analysis
Our analysis revealed that the Liberal party had a median of 90 more BWAs when in power than the conservative party however the number of days the BWA was in effect had a median of 41 more days when the conservative party was in power. Short term BWAs tend to last only a few days, but long term BWAs can last years.
Conclusion
The immense number of boil water advisories over the 19 years this data spans is unacceptable. When deciding where to first allocate funds, we recommend focusing on ending long term boil water advisories to improve the quality of water in Indigenous Communities.
Video Presentation
For a 6 minute summary of our project, please watch this video presentation.
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