Water Canada – Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB) filed a suit in Federal Court against the federal government over its failure to ensure the safety of drinking water. An expert assessment commissioned by the federal government in 2010 by firm Neegan Burnside produced a startling result. All of the drinking water systems were ranked an 8 out of 10 on a scale of potential risk to human health. After 9 years of determined and good faith efforts on the part of the OKIB, the federal government has made upgrades to only 1 of 7 systems. Okanagan felt no option was left, apart from legal action. We are stuck in limbo between federal policy that underfunds our system and provincial infrastructure resources we cannot access. The suit simply asks for confirmation that First Nations have the same access to safe drinking water as other Canadians. That would compel the federal government to ensure water infrastructure that meets safety standards – with a timeline.