The Ontario government's two-year freeze on new water extraction permits and stricter rules on water-bottling companies are the "bare minimum" to protect groundwater supplies, according to water activists.

Canada has the world's second-largest supply of fresh water, but 169 First Nation communities have limited or no access to it. Nearly a quarter of the First Nations communities administered by Health Canada are currently without clean water. The alerts issued by the federal government range from "boil water advisories" going back more than 20 years to crippling "Do Not Consume" orders. VICE goes to Shoal Lake 40, a reserve only a few hours from Winnipeg that sits on a manmade island. The lake the reserve sits on supplies Winnipeg's drinking water, but Shoal Lake 40 has been under a boil water advisory for 17 years. In part two, we go to Neskantaga, a remote fly-in where the federal government opts to deliver rations of bottled water to rather than repair the treatment plant that would provide jobs and consistent water. VICE Canada meets with the chiefs, the political negotiators and the young residents who have spent their whole lives without accessible clean water.

WATCH NEXT: Trawling Winnipeg's Rivers for the Bodies of Unsolved Murder Cases - http://bit.ly/1LmA8Zy

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Canada's Waterless Communities: Shoal Lake 40

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Ontario's plan for a two-year freeze on new water extraction permits has its critics.

New Rules on Big Water Companies in Ontario Are ‘The Bare Minimum’

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FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

New Rules on Big Water Companies in Ontario Are ‘The Bare Minimum’

FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

New Rules on Big Water Companies in Ontario Are ‘The Bare Minimum’

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