Contractor calls out Indigenous Services Canada's 'broken' procurement and delivery models, advocates for First Nation-industry partnerships
But Canada seems to be running on two different sets of standards when it comes to executing on sewer and water treatment projects in Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, according to one expert panel this week.
She described a "devolving situation" with the life cycle running out on existing systems that eventually will "cascade into one great big huge failure of systems across the entire country, and I don't think people are aware of what's coming."The panellists questioned Ottawa's role, particularly Indigenous Services Canada, as a capable middle man in being able to deliver these community development projects in an efficient and expeditious way.
It wasn’t until Mbarki started working in the Alberta oil and gas industry that she realized how fast large-scale infrastructure developments can actually get done, outside of government oversight. Growing up on reserve, Mbarki spoke about the "toxic cycle" of living through three water advisories, one lasting five years.
On a weekly scheduled run, a tanker truck delivers water to every residence. A broken-down truck could mean the reserve goes without a refill for a couple of weeks. People often run out of water. Large families must ration. Upstream of the mill was a water treatment plant. The mill manager authorized a water line to be constructed from the fresh water pool and extended into the reserve, piping in clean water.
The panellists agreed most successful Indigenous community developments they see in Western Canada are the ones that involve direct contact between private industry and Indigenous communities, beyond government involvement. She said there needs to be better “outside-the-box” engineering solutions that communities can support, instead of Ottawa staying the course in building massively expensive treatment plants that are too complex to operate and maintain.
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