A remote Cree community on the shores of James Bay has declared a state of emergency after its water treatment plant failed this week — a crisis residents say the federal government is responding to far too slowly. 

Kashechewan First Nation, home to around 2,300 people alongside the Albany River in Ontario’s northern region, is now under a “do not consume” short-term water advisory. 

Residents have been ordered not to drink tap water or bathe babies and young children in it. In many homes, taps are dry — no water to flush toilets or wash hands.

Kashechewan Chief Hosea Wesley said the community’s broken water system has left young parents scrambling to care for their children. “I have a mother with a newborn, and we haven’t washed the baby since the start of this declaration,” he said.

The local emergency began in early December when pumps at the community’s water treatment plant failed, stopping proper treatment of drinking water. Later that month, equipment that handles the sewage system also began to fail, causing backups that spread into parts of the community’s only health clinic during an influenza outbreak.

“Imagine a family of 10 people in a crowded house with influenza and there’s only one washroom, and it’s not working,” said Tyson Wesley, the nation’s executive director.

So far, federal support has fallen far short of what the community needs, he said. As of Wednesday, the government had arranged only one charter flight — enough to evacuate 37 people. 

The nation has requested more assistance and asked the Canadian Armed Forces to step in with water deliveries and a faster evacuation. Ottawa, however, has reportedly denied the request, saying the situation doesn’t meet the threshold for an emergency response.

“If one person gets sick or one person passes away, maybe that’s the level of response that they need,”  Tyson Wesley said.

The community is accessible only by air for most of the year, which means every water delivery, evacuation or  equipment replacement part depends on aircraft — and the weather.

Chief Wesley said no one knows how long the repair will take – residents are hauling untreated water from nearby rivers to flush toilets and relying on donations of bottled water for drinking and cooking.

The current crisis is part of a decades-long struggle with repeated system breakdowns. Ottawa has supported repairs, but the aging system continues to break down and replacement parts are difficult to find, Tyson Wesley said.

Chief Wesley said federal action has repeatedly stalled, with officials calling for more studies despite long-standing evidence of risk. Engineering assessments have already warned that the community’s dike system built decades ago and never upgraded could fail during a major flood or spring breakup. Instead of acting on those findings or improving infrastructure, he said, decisions have continued to be delayed.

“The government has been dragging its feet for over 18 years,” Tyson Wesley said.

Kashechewan sits in a flood-prone area and has evacuated more than a dozen times in 18 years due to flooding, contaminated water and failing infrastructure. 

A few years ago, the federal government even committed to relocating Kashechewan to safer ground, but that plan has not progressed, Chief Wesley said — meanwhile, uncertainty around relocation has also delayed essential investments in the current community, leaving residents dependent on old infrastructure that keeps breaking down.  

He said federal officials have also blocked the First Nation from managing its own evacuation operations, citing a “conflict of interest.” The community created its own emergency management entity to coordinate flights, lodging and logistics, drawing on the experience of members who have managed many evacuations before. 

The government’s refusal has delayed evacuations that they could have begun within hours, which undermines their right to self-determination, said Chief Wesley.

Canada’s National Observer reached out to Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) to clarify its response and outline what actions it plans to take, but the department did not respond to requests for comment before publication.

Internal documents obtained by Canada’s National Observer through the Access to Information and Privacy Act reveal that ISC, in a July 4, 2025 letter to lawyer John P. Brown — who represented First Nations in the class-action settlement — acknowledged the importance of ensuring access to clean water. After the 2021 Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Settlement, Canada committed to working closely with First Nations to create new legislation to replace the 2013 Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act, which was repealed in June 2022.

The government introduced Bill C‑61, the First Nations Clean Water Act, on December 11, 2023. However, the bill didn’t move forward and died when Parliament shut down in 2025. It has not been reintroduced.

ISC says it remains committed to reconciliation and working with First Nations to improve access to safe, high-quality water.

Other internal documents dated July 15, 2025 show Ottawa continues funding major on-reserve infrastructure projects, including water and wastewater systems. By March 31, 2025, over 1,000 large projects had received targeted funds, with hundreds underway or nearly complete. Another 98 projects worth close to $900 million are planned over the next three years. 

Regional offices have identified 183 large-scale infrastructure projects requiring $2.87 billion in funding, which could move forward should additional resources be secured.

The department previously noted that it has been working to address a shortage of trained water system operators and to strengthen day-to-day operations so advisories can be lifted sooner. It also made permanent increases to annual funding and plans to nearly quadruple support for water system operations and maintenance by the 2025–26 fiscal year.

Tyson Welsey said this evacuation is just one of many expected, with plans already underway to evacuate the most vulnerable again when the river breaks up in the spring. “We’re in the constant state of emergency in my community,” he said.

Sonal Gupta / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada’s National Observer.

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