Peterborough Examiner – Parliamentary Budget Office Yves Giroux’s report on Wednesday said the government has set aside more than enough money to meet the expected capital costs to build water and wastewater systems over the next five years. Where the government falls short is on financial help to First Nations to operate the systems, which Giroux’s office estimates would need $138 million more annually in federal funding.

The PBO report also noted that the share of water systems deemed to be “high” or “medium” risk — meaning they are unlikely to manage through any problems — has remained virtually the same since 2015 despite annual federal spending more than doubling during that time.