Article content

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hauled large jugs of drinking water and spoke with school children Thursday as he was immersed in the daily struggles of an isolated reserve that has been under a boil advisory for 19 years.

Trudeau spent seven hours on Shoal Lake 40 First Nation — a man-made island near the Manitoba-Ontario boundary, cut off from the mainland a century ago during construction of an aqueduct that carries fresh water to Winnipeg.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Justin Trudeau hauls water jugs, talks to school kids on trip to isolated reserve with Vice documentary team Back to video

“It was an extraordinary day. It was a day for him to see and feel it, our daily struggles here,” Chief Erwin Redsky said afterward.

The visit was deemed a private one, closed to all media outlets except Vice Canada, which is shooting a documentary on the tour.