Latest news with #Puvirnituq
CBC
24-06-2025
- Health
- CBC
Review underway into Puvirnituq, Que., water crisis, as province negotiates new agreement
New 3rd-party review expected to be completed by September A third-party review is now underway into the cause of a severe water shortage in Puvirnituq, Que., earlier this year. For months, the village of 2,100 people grappled with a water delivery and sewage crisis, after a water pipeline that connects the pump station to the treatment plant froze mid-March. At times, the local hospital ran out of water and had to fly some patients south for care. Nunavik's chief public health officer also warned that illnesses like gastroenteritis (stomach flu) could spread rapidly as the water shortage affected access to sanitation. Severe weather conditions also made it difficult to complete water deliveries, which eventually triggered a state of emergency in May that lasted almost three weeks. The emergency ended earlier this month after a temporary water pipeline bypass was installed. On Friday, local, regional and provincial leaders met in Puvirnituq to discuss the path forward. Ian Lafrenière, Quebec's minister responsible for relations with First Nations and the Inuit, said he wants to understand what exactly triggered the crisis. "We know that the main pipe froze, but why is that? Is it because of maintenance? Is it because of a lack of proper equipment?" he said. Kativik Regional Government officials told CBC News at the time that a heating wire, which prevents water from freezing during the winter, had reached the end of its life. Hilda Snowball, chairperson of the Kativik Regional Government (KRG), believes the third-party review, which is expected to be complete by September, will highlight how outdated Nunavik's water infrastructure is, and how more funding is needed. "All these discussions will be had after the report comes out, and we will push to have a strategic plan in place for Puvirnituq, as well as the other communities that are facing issues with their infrastructure," she said. Finding new communications channels Lafreniere acknowledges there was a lot of pressure on the village during those few months, but he said it was difficult to get information about what was happening in Puvirnituq. At times, he said he found out about some issues from the media. "One part of the diagnostic that I made very clear with all my colleagues on Friday was to establish what are the responsibilities of everybody, from KRG, the municipality, to us as a government," he said. "At the end of the day, we're not trying to do some finger-pointing, we're just trying to find a solution for the future." For her part, Snowball said KRG was in constant communication with Lafreniere's office, though there were other provincial departments that cancelled some meetings. "We will for sure push to have better communications as well," she said. Negotiating a new 2-year funding agreement Improving communications is important, Lafreniere said, especially now as the province negotiates a new two-year funding agreement for municipal infrastructure projects. A priority for him in those discussions is to not implement a paternalistic approach to the partnership, which includes Makivvik and KRG. "We want to give them all the autonomy that they deserve, but we still get that partnership," he said. Snowball acknowledges that KRG has several different funding arrangements with the province, but existing deals for municipal infrastructure are no longer sufficient. "With the [current] five-year agreement that we have, most of the funding is already allocated. The increase of the cost, the materials, even renovations is in the millions now. It used to be in the [hundreds of] thousands, but they're now in the millions," she said. "If there is a project, there is a certain percentage that the community has to pay. It's impossible for some of the communities to deal with that." As for long-term changes to Nunavik's water infrastructure, Lafreniere said there are several options they're studying, including utilidors into homes, drilling for groundwater, and creating a direct water line to schools and hospitals. However, in the face of a changing climate and melting permafrost, he said there are no perfect solutions. "So instead of doing something that is not going to be appropriate in 10, 15, 20 years [time], we want to make sure to find a good solution," he said.
CTV News
07-06-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
‘Showering so much': Indigenous students from water crisis-stricken village enjoy abundance on Montreal trip
A state of emergency over a water crisis in Puvirnituq, on the Northeast coast of Hudson Bay ended today, but the issues that slowed the availability of running water to the Inuit village linger. Temporary solutions are in place but the pipe that froze, cutting off water to the community of 2,000 people, won't be replaced until the fall. The school year was cut short but some of the students from the local high school are in Montreal for a six-day trip to learn but to also heal from the difficult three months they have just lived through. 'It was really hard, I couldn't take any showers, and I had to go to school to brush my teeth because there was water there sometimes,' said 13-year-old Nevie Cadot. 'It was really bad.' Today, Cadot was splashing around in the backyard pool of the home where the seven students and three teachers are staying during their visit. Some of the other students along with their Inuktitut teacher, Lisi Alasuak, were sitting by the side of the pool. They have toured the Montreal Science Centre, and the Insectarium, and a shopping centre. They are also enjoying abundant water, something they have missed at home in the North. 'I have been using a lot of water,' said student Annie Joy Irqu with a smile. 'I am showering so much.' The water crisis in their Inuit village broke out in mid-March. A protection mechanism on a pipeline connecting the pump station to the water treatment plant 2.5 kilometres away broke, causing the pipe to freeze. Water had to be trucked in and sewage trucked out. But that reduced the supply to a trickle as blizzards repeatedly made roads impassable. Hospital ran out of water and gastrointestinal diseases spiked as hygiene became a major issue. 'People had to melt ice from outside to flush the toilet,' says Alasuak. Puvirnituq declared a state of emergency after firefighters struggled to put out a house fire and Canadian Rangers were called to help distribute bottled water and provide logistical support to the community. In mid-May, a temporary pipeline, resembling a hose lying on top of the remaining snow, was installed. But the town had to issue a warning for people not to pass over the exposed pipeline with snowmobiles after it was severed and had to be repaired. For years, provincial and federal governments have promised to improve the availability of running water in communities in the North. But this crisis has renewed calls for more resources being invested in basic needs. The students offered a few suggestions of what they would ask if they could talk to politicians. 'I would ask for pipes deep underground for unlimited water,' says Cadot. 'But also, for better roads. The roads are really bad and bumpy, and the water trucks had a hard time getting through.' For now, the students are enjoying being teens on a school trip spending a few days away from home.
CTV News
07-06-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
‘Showering so much': Indigenous students from water crisis-stricken village enjoy abundance on Montreal trip
A state of emergency over a water crisis in Puvirnituq, on the Northeast coast of Hudson Bay ended today, but the issues that slowed the availability of running water to the Inuit village linger. Temporary solutions are in place but the pipe that froze, cutting off water to the community of 2,000 people, won't be replaced until the fall. The school year was cut short but some of the students from the local high school are in Montreal for a six-day trip to learn but to also heal from the difficult three months they have just lived through. 'It was really hard, I couldn't take any showers, and I had to go to school to brush my teeth because there was water there sometimes,' said 13-year-old Nevie Cadot. 'It was really bad.' Today, Cadot was splashing around in the backyard pool of the home where the seven students and three teachers are staying during their visit. Some of the other students along with their Inuktitut teacher, Lisi Alasuak, were sitting by the side of the pool. They have toured the Montreal Science Centre, and the Insectarium, and a shopping centre. They are also enjoying abundant water, something they have missed at home in the North. 'I have been using a lot of water,' said student Annie Joy Irqu with a smile. 'I am showering so much.' The water crisis in their Inuit village broke out in mid-March. A protection mechanism on a pipeline connecting the pump station to the water treatment plant 2.5 kilometres away broke, causing the pipe to freeze. Water had to be trucked in and sewage trucked out. But that reduced the supply to a trickle as blizzards repeatedly made roads impassable. Hospital ran out of water and gastrointestinal diseases spiked as hygiene became a major issue. 'People had to melt ice from outside to flush the toilet,' says Alasuak. Puvirnituq declared a state of emergency after firefighters struggled to put out a house fire and Canadian Rangers were called to help distribute bottled water and provide logistical support to the community. In mid-May, a temporary pipeline, resembling a hose lying on top of the remaining snow, was installed. But the town had to issue a warning for people not to pass over the exposed pipeline with snowmobiles after it was severed and had to be repaired. For years, provincial and federal governments have promised to improve the availability of running water in communities in the North. But this crisis has renewed calls for more resources being invested in basic needs. The students offered a few suggestions of what they would ask if they could talk to politicians. 'I would ask for pipes deep underground for unlimited water,' says Cadot. 'But also, for better roads. The roads are really bad and bumpy, and the water trucks had a hard time getting through.' For now, the students are enjoying being teens on a school trip spending a few days away from home.
CBC
07-06-2025
- Climate
- CBC
State of emergency ends in Puvirnituq, Que., as water flows again
A state of emergency declared in Puvirnituq, Que., three weeks ago amid a severe water shortage is now over, officials in Nunavik say. But the chair of the Kativik Regional Government says the crisis has shown "that inexplicable living conditions still exist in this country," and that the region needs more resilient water systems. The emergency was declared in May amid a worsening water shortage in Puvrinituq, a community of about 2,100 people. The problem actually began weeks earlier, in mid-March, after a water pipeline that connects the pump station to the treatment plant froze. Severe weather conditions also made it difficult for trucks to collect water and deliver it to homes. The Quebec government ended up air-lifting 145,000 litres of bottled water to the community. The prolonged water shortage caused problems for the local hospital, which ran out of water at times and had to fly some patients south for care. Nunavik's chief public health officer also warned that illnesses like gastroenteritis (stomach flu) could spread rapidly as the water shortage impacted access to sanitation, and officials last month ended the school year early. In a news release on Friday, town officials said things have improved in the last couple of weeks after a temporary water pipeline bypass was installed with help from the Kativik Regional Government (KRG), restoring the flow of raw water to the treatment plant. "This is a stabilizing, interim solution until more permanent repairs can be completed throughout the summer," the release states. KRG officials say it's not the first time Puvirnituq has dealt with water distribution problems, and they blame "chronic underfunding of resilient water supply infrastructure" that can endure Nunavik's harsh winter weather. Puvirntuq mayor Lucy Qalingo said in a statement that she's relieved that things have stabilized and that "the worst of the water crisis has passed" in her community. "There remain steep obstacles to ensuring that Puvirniturmiut can rely on the current system when they need it most," she said. KRG chairperson Hilda Snowball also issued a statement, reassuring the community that the KRG is committed to addressing water infrastructure issues "by any and all means." "We are more determined than ever to make governments accountable for providing a resilient water system comparable to what people outside of Nunavik take for granted," she said.
CTV News
06-06-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Nunavik village lifts state of emergency as water shortage stabilizes
A sled is hooked up to a snowmobile on the ice near Inukjuak, Que. Thursday, May 12, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld) A village in Quebec's Far North has lifted a state of emergency triggered by a months-long water shortage. The Kativik Regional Government says the water is flowing once again into Puvirnituq after crews installed a bypass to temporarily replace a frozen water main. The Inuit village declared the state of emergency on May 17 after a fire damaged two homes. Its 2,100 residents had been without consistent water deliveries after the water main froze in a blizzard in mid-March. The regional government said the shortage created a public health risk for residents and the local hospital, which struggled to maintain hygiene and sanitation. It says workers will carry out permanent repairs on the main pipe this summer. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025.
