By Janet E Silver. Published on Oct 13, 2021 4:36pm
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and the new NDP MP for Nunavut, Lori Idlout, want the federal government to respond to a state of emergency in the territory’s capital city.
Iqaluit, Nunavut, declared a state of emergency on Tuesday because its water supply is contaminated.
“The Liberal government can help by providing short-term supplies of water, and making available any resource to address the cause of the emergency,” reads a joint statement by Singh and Idlout.
The 9,000 residents of Iqaluit get their water from the city, but more than a week ago, they began complaining that the tap water smelled like diesel fuel.
After an emergency meeting on Tuesday, Iqaluit Mayor Kenny Bell took to Twitter to warn residents not to drink the water, even after boiling it.
“The city (is) currently working with … the territorial ministers for assistance in reaching out to the federal government,” Geoff Byrne, an economic development officer for Iqaluit, wrote in an email to iPolitics.
“Samples have been collected and were sent South for testing. We anticipate we will have these test results back at the end of the week.”
In a radio interview with journalist Evan Solomon on Tuesday, Bell said he has no idea what happened to the city’s water supply, but it’s an ongoing problem.
“The city of Iqaluit has had a water crisis for over five years now,” Bell said. “One of the problems is that the city has grown so fast, and our water supply does not replenish quickly enough.”
Bell said the city is trucking water in from a nearby river and distributing it at two locations in town. Bottled water at the local store costs about $9 per litre, which most residents can’t afford.
He said officials are putting together an official request for funds from the federal government.
The government is aware of the order not to consume municipal water, said Megan MacLean, a spokesperson for the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs.
“(The government) is continuing to collaborate with all partners, including the City of Iqaluit, to ensure that residents of Iqaluit have access to safe drinking water as soon as possible,” she said.
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