'I don't trust that water plant': Hundreds evacuated so far from #FirstNation in northern #Ontario
With half of 2,300 residents already out, CBC was in the #Cree FirstNation to report on how people are coping
Jonathan Migneault · CBC News · Posted: Jan 16, 2026 11:58 AM EST | Last Updated: January 16
Excerpt: "The streets are quieter in #Kashechewan First Nation.
"Some children are still playing hockey outside on a snow-packed road, but that would have been more common just three weeks earlier.
"About half of the 2,300 people living in the remote fly-in community in northern Ontario have already left for cities to the south — including Timmins, Ont., Kingston and Niagara Falls — as part of evacuation efforts that began earlier this month.
"It's all because of concerns over the aging and damaged water-treatment plant in the Cree First Nation.
"On Jan. 4, Chief Hosea Wesley declared a state of emergency. People were told not to drink the water and the plant effectively shut off the taps providing it to their homes.
"Technicians with #NorthernWaterworks were brought in to repair the damage and worked to get the water running again. But they're awaiting test results from a lab in North Bay for health authorities to determine if the water is safe to drink.
"Adrian Sackaney still doesn’t trust the local water supply.
"He goes to the nearby Albany River, which flows into James Bay, to collect large chunks of ice
"Every day, Sackaney hauls that ice to his home with a snowmobile so it can be put to use when it melts.
" 'I use that ice for my kids to take a bath,' Sackaney said. 'It's hard work to go get ice too … I don't trust that water plant right now.'
"While evacuations continue, Sackaney plans to stay behind."
Read more:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/kashechewan-water-crisis-evacuation-9.7048247