Trudeau's promise to lift on-reserve water advisories scrutinized over lack of results

"Your Liberal government has turned Indian Affairs into two separate massive bureaucracies that eat up large portions of funding that we'll never see it on to reserve [because it] doesn't leave the bureaucracy," she said.

"You've promised clean drinking water, but billions of dollars later, that hasn’t happened. Many still do not have clean drinking water."

Trudeau responded: "One of the enemies of progressive politics, Melissa, is cynicism, to discount the hard work that millions of people have been involved in over the past year and who’ve said yes, there's always more to do."

Ridgen rebutted: "Canadians and Indigenous people are losing patience with the lack of results from all of this spending."

"Why [should] they believe you for a third term that they will get results and you will be accountable for all the spending?"

"Progressives always know there's more to do," said Trudeau.

According to the Government of Canada, the Trudeau Liberals lifted 109 long-term water advisories since November 2015. However, 51 advisories remain in effect on 32 Indigenous reserves as of August 28.

Sixty-eight percent of water advisories were lifted since Trudeau was first elected, while another 9.4 percent are pending. One in five projects remains under construction.

"For each of the ones that are remaining, we have a project lead, a project team and an action plan [on lifting] those remaining water advisories," he said.

Trudeau pivoted and said that "tens of thousands of Indigenous kids across this country started the school year in new schools or refurbished schools."

"We move forward on settling more agreements, more land claims and more partnerships than any other government over the years. We continue to work in partnership and respect and invest more money in Indigenous communities than any previous government. Just know we have more to do," he said.

Since 2016, Cabinet budgeted $2.1 billion to upgrade First Nations utilities and pledged another $1.5 billion last year.

Ridgen countered: “I don't think anybody's questioning the money spent. I think that they're questioning the results for the money that's spent.”

Cabinet also acknowledged earlier this year it would not meet a March 31 deadline to eliminate all boiled water advisories on First Nations.

"There are not enough resources to address all vulnerable systems," reads An Evaluation Of The Water And Wastewater On-Reserve Program.

Indigenous Services is responsible for 725 water plants and 450 sewage systems in First Nations across Canada. Parliament pays eighty percent of costs though the department "falsely supposed that communities possess available funds for the remaining twenty percent.”

"Insufficient operation and maintenance funding contribute to the occurrence of drinking water advisories and long-term drinking water advisories," the report reads.

Only 51 percent of First Nations sewer plant operators said their systems "were comparable to that in non-First Nation communities."

Seventy-four percent of water managers and 66 percent of sewer managers on First Nations were adequately trained.

The report blamed high staff turnover, low pay, "community remoteness," lack of "advanced education," and a shortage of "certified back-up system operators."

"Insufficient operation and maintenance funding poses immediate risks to infrastructure and undermines its longevity," it continued, adding: "Too many water and wastewater systems are considered to be at medium or high risk for failure."

Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller said on December 2 that he bears the responsibility for this and "he has the responsibility and the duty to get this done."

"This was an ambitious deadline from the get-go,” he added. "When we say that it was an Ottawa-imposed deadline or it was a deadline we set, those communities were not able to say what time was reasonable nor was their planning done."

"This needed to be fixed yesterday. It should have never happened in the first place."