WINNIPEG—The same remote northern Manitoba reserves that were sent body bags during the H1N1 flu outbreak say Ottawa has come up with a similarly “archaic and degrading” solution to their lack of running water — 1,000 slop pails.

The Island Lake Tribal Council says it asked Indian Affairs to help address the water crisis on its four remote reserves northeast of Lake Winnipeg. At least half of the homes on the reserves, which have a combined population of 10,000, don’t have running water

Chief David McDougall of the St. Theresa Point First Nation said Thursday what they got was a shipment of 800 water containers and 1,000 slop pails to use as toilets. Each of the four communities also got a sewage truck, but they don’t have the resources or fuel to run it, he said.

“Three years ago when there was an outbreak of H1N1, Health Canada supplied body bags to our communities, which was very offensive and insensitive,” said McDougall, who lost his niece in the outbreak. “Now Indian and Northern Affairs Canada is supplying slop pails as a solution. This is not acceptable to our people.”

The council had recommended several solutions with a price tag totalling $8 million. They included outdoor, communal toilets in the short-term and an engineering study to determine how to service the reserves.

Ottawa expects 15 people in one house to share a slop pail rather than ensure the communities have running water, McDougall said.

Not only is that archaic and degrading, it’s dangerous, he said.

“Use of slop pails as toilets contributes to health risk for families,” he said. “The health of our children will be at greater threat. In the summer months, flies will be attracted to the waste and eventually contaminate food.”

Chief Alex McDougall of Wasagamack First Nation said people on his reserve are living in Third World conditions.

“The majority of our people have to haul water,” he said. Running water “is a basic right in Canada. For our community, it’s a daily struggle.”

“We’re frustrated,” added Chief Dino Flett, of Garden Hill First Nation. “We’re fighting for our people.”

The Island Lake community was particularly hard-hit by the H1N1 flu outbreak. At the time, chiefs blamed the community’s poor living conditions, including overcrowded housing and a lack of running water.

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Three years later, they say little has changed.

A spokeswoman in Ottawa for Indian Affairs referred questions about the slop pails to a regional office which did not immediately respond.

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