Construction must begin on road after isolated reserve’s ferry breaks down: chief
SHOAL LAKE, Man. — The chief of an isolated reserve under one of Canada’s longest boil-water advisories says construction on a road linking his community to the outside world must begin now.
Shoal Lake 40 First Nation land straddles the Ontario-Manitoba boundary and was cut off from the mainland a century ago when an aqueduct was built to supply fresh water to Winnipeg. The reserve has no all-weather road and has been under a boil-water advisory for 18 years.
Chief Erwin Redsky says the First Nation’s only aging ferry broke down three weeks ago, cutting off the community entirely.
This time, it was the ferry’s engine. In May 2015, the ferry failed to pass a federal inspection and was taken out of service, which prompted the reserve to declare a state of emergency and fly out its elders.