Manitoba chief invites Indigenous Services minister over for a glass of water

A federal minister was put on the spot Thursday when a northern Manitoba chief suggested a visit to her First Nation to experience what it’s like to have to boil water before drinking it.

At a news conference to announce that applications are now open to compensate First Nations with long-term drinking-water advisories, Tataskweyak Chief Doreen Spence said federal officials can’t understand her community’s pain.

“You guys don’t see the everyday impacts of what we go through,” Spence said, inviting federal Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu to visit her community 143 kilometres northeast of Thompson.

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