An investigation by a consortium of journalists including Global News, APTN News and the Institute for Investigative Journalism exposed complaints about the construction firm originally hired to upgrade the water treatment plant meant to end Neskantaga First Nation’s historic long-term boil water advisory.

In the struggle to provide clean drinking water to residents, many First Nations leaders say they face obstacles of funding, bureaucracy, lack of control and systemic racism.

Hundreds of thousands of Canadians could be consuming tap water laced with high levels of lead leaching from aging infrastructure and plumbing, a large collection of newly released data and documents reveals.