‘In our culture, water ... is sacred’

First Nation communities have struggled for years with water tainted by chemicals and industrial waste. A new program puts Indigenous youth on the path to become certified water treatment plant operators,

Jamie Lee Parenteau knows that water is where life originates.

She knows that it must be protected in every way possible from pollution or waste.

The Ojibway woman’s ancestors were able to live off the water as a resource, and to sustain all living things in their care.

Yet, in some First Nation communities today, water has become a curse.

“In our culture, water is so much more. It’s sacred,” says Parenteau, who is from the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation.

“Our people could just go to the lake for everything. That was before all these things like the (pulp) mills and mercury poisoning. Our people drink that water and got poisoned by it.”

The young mother is a water protector — and she now has a licence that says so.

Earlier in October, Parenteau graduated from an 18-month paid internship program for Indigenous youth to become certified water operators in training along with 10 others from participating First Nation communities across the Bimose Tribal Council region in northwestern Ontario.

Funded by Indigenous Services Canada and donors, the program is a brainchild of Water First, a non-Indigenous charity based in Creemore, Ont., that started in 2009 to bring drinking water resources to remote Uganda communities.

Today, after being challenged for overlooking those needs in Canada’s own backyard, its mandate is to address water issues in Indigenous communities through education, training and collaboration.

The internship program, with both in-person workshops and hands-on training components, began as a pilot in 2017 to train youth in the communities in drinking water and environmental water management.

It prepares participants for the certification to be water operators in training before they go through 1,800 hours of water plant experience and complete the entry-level course to become fully certified water treatment plant operators.

According to Water First, 13.5 per cent of First Nations communities in Canada are under a boil-water advisory and the rate goes up to 40 per cent in Ontario. Some communities have struggled for years with contaminated water tainted by chemicals and wastes such as mercury as in the case of the Grassy Narrows First Nation where soil and river sediments remain polluted at or near the site of an old paper mill.

“There are issues regarding water quality in First Nation bands, so it’s not uncommon to have boil-water advisories,” said Adam Peacock, technical services officer at Bimose Tribal Council, which reached out to Water First to participate in the internship program.

“Hopefully, these graduates can be a part of the solution to the drinking water problems we have in the area.”

And that’s what motivated Parenteau. She attended a presentation aiming to recruit interns from the community before the onset of the pandemic last year — and she decided to dive into a career change, from community service caseworker to water operator.

The project that began in early 2020 had to be quickly adapted to the new COVID-19 reality, and the single parent of three had to juggle dealing with a pandemic while studying the science and math around water testing and maintenance and repairs to water treatment and delivery equipment.

What’s helped her persevere is her unwavering desire to ensure clean water is accessible to First Nation peoples.

“It only takes one person to make a difference, one person to change things. I wanted to be in a position where I could go and help. And that’s what I did,” said Parenteau.

And getting to know more about the water challenges faced by Indigenous communities really upset and angered Parenteau, who grew up off reserve in Kenora.

“Clean running water isn’t a luxury. Everyone deserves it. Everyone needs it,” she recalled. “That really bothers me. I want to do whatever I can to help change that. With this program, I would be in a better position to help.”

Already the mother of a sevenyear-old daughter and six-yearold son, she just gave birth to a girl in October 2019 and worried about failing to complete the program, which required travelling to attend workshops and field training.

“I was scared, but I felt compelled to do it because of what it was,” said Parenteau, 29. “Then COVID started happening. There’s no child care. The two older ones were with one person for the morning and then they changed for the afternoon and my baby was with somebody else. I had to find child care constantly. It’s hard.”

At times, the interns must attend training in a hotel in front of computers in their rooms separate from one another, yet just close enough to be able to gain tech support should they need it during “in-person, virtual training” workshops.

Parenteau would be travelling with her three kids and juggling her classes and assignments with the help of a babysitter during the day.

On the day of her water-operator-in-training exam, she panicked because she was not able to find child care. Just when she was about to withdraw from the test, the staff at the Super 8 hotel came to her rescue and looked after them in another conference room.

“I was embarrassed because it was so last minute,” Parenteau now recalled with a laugh. “I was so thankful to the hotel staff at the front desk. I thought like all the challenges I’ve been through with the training, I always think it’s not going to work out, but some way it does. So that has to mean something.”

After passing the exam, she was assigned to job-shadow the lone water operator at the water treatment plant at her own Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation.

Parenteau said she was shocked by how dated the equipment was at the 30-yearold plant and with her newly acquired knowledge, approached the chief and each member of the council to convince them the facility needed a major upgrade to ensure water quality. She even searched for the parts and equipment suppliers and did all the pricing.

“This isn’t something we can stand by. This is water. This is what our community drinks every day and they use it for everything. It bothers me nobody understands the importance of water and how much work goes into it at the water plant,” she said. The community is set to upgrade its water plant next year.

At the Washagamis Bay First Nation reserve where Nathan Copenace is from, the community had a boil-water advisory in place from 2008 until last month — just over a year after it got the funding to build a new water plant.

A boil-water advisory goes out when the water is not safe to drink due to viruses and bacteria, though people could still use it to wash, shower and swim in. When drinking water cannot be delivered from outside the community, he said people just have to boil their own and drink it.

Copenace, 30, enrolled himself and another band member, Justice Chartrand, in the internship program last year at the recommendation of his father, Vernon, because of the need to train water operators from their own community.

“It’s a lot of responsibility. If something goes wrong, I have to respond to it right away and get a boil-water advisory out. You have to work 365 days of the year,” said Copenace, who worked in a timber factory before he started full-time operating his community’s water plant upon graduation.

He said the job of a water operator is more than just making clean water for the community, but involves planning and development such as ensuring enough water capacity and power to flush out water for emergencies such as fires.

“Just knowing that there’re going to be a lot more Indigenous water operators helping out at their own communities makes me proud to be part of the program,” said Copenace.

Being able to groom their own water operators and environment water experts help fill the shortages of these professionals in Indigenous communities, said Peacock from the Bimose Council.

It’s hard sometimes for communities to fill those positions because the reserves are only accessible by plane ride and with limited winter road access. Often there’s just one water operator doing all the testing and maintenance at each plant throughout the year.

“There is always a need for water treatment operators in our communities. This program is a great opportunity to fill that need,” he said.

Jay Saini of Water First said many First Nations with drinking water challenges have identified the need for more young, qualified and local personnel to support solving water issues independently and for the longer term. A new batch of interns from eight First Nations communities in the Georgian Bay area has just started with the program.