MPP Shaw slams Ford government for allowing dangerously high lead levels in the drinking water for several Hamilton schools and daycares

HAMILTON – MPP Sandy Shaw, NDP critic for Environment, Conservation, and Parks, released the following statement after the Investigative Journalism Bureau (IJB) published a report finding 2300 schools across the province had dangerously high levels of lead in the water that kids are drinking:

“Kids in Hamilton are going to school in classrooms where the water is contaminated with lead. Even daycares are failing these tests. It’s shocking.”

The very fact that this government knows our children could be exposed to lead, and they continue to underfund school infrastructure and upgrades is completely shameful. This cannot and should not be happening in 2024”.

Background

• IJB’s report found nearly half of Ontario’s public schools recorded at least one drinking water test that exceeded the federal safety guideline in the past four years
• In Hamilton, several schools have high failure rates for safe drinking water, including Memorial PS (25%), Sir Allan McNab (15.38%), and Westdale (11.11%)
• Ontario’s guidelines for safe lead are double the federal rate, despite growing concerns about the impact of lead
• You can search your community’s school at this database: https://ijb.utoronto.ca/school-daycare-lead-tracker/