Sudbury students eye-opening learning about First Nation boil water advisories

Staff and students at Levack Public School in Greater Sudbury brought awareness to the school community about the boil water advisories affecting 20 First Nations in Ontario on Wednesday.

Students said knowing there are so many people without clean drinking water is upsetting and some said they had no idea that people had to live like this.

"It’s sad and it’s also hurtful because we need water to survive and it’s for the babies to drink and all that kind of stuff," said Amira Deerroy, a Grade 5 student at the school.

"We can’t survive without water."

"I learned that not everybody has clean drinking water and then there’s 20 First Nations places that don’t have clean water," said Emmanuel Fillion, a Grade 7 student.

Grade 6/7 teacher Vickie Loiselle told students that more than 16,000 people in the province are without clean water. She said it's something students should know.

"Every student in the province has clean water except for these 20 First Nation communities. I just wanted to bring awareness and let these students know how privileged they are to be able to drink from the tap," said Loiselle.

"It makes me feel really sad and guilty because there’s a lot of places that don’t have water and I hope that we can get them out of the water advisory and fix it," said Layla Bergeron, a Grade 6 student.

Layla’s mother, Natasha Bergeron, was in attendance at the assembly. She said she regularly goes to Missanabie Cree First Nation, where everyone needs to boil their water before they can drink it.

"It’s very unfortunate that they have to live like that and it’s a constant battle for them all year," Bergeron said.

"Hopefully the government will give us people the clean drinking water that we deserve."

Students in each class had the chance to write on a blue piece of paper what they can do to protect the water.

The school said it will continue to educate students about the boil water advisories in Ontario so they can try and make a difference.