Hajdu has refused to set a firm deadline for the engagement since taking office last fall, saying there are many technical challenges with the project.
Prime Minister Justin Trindade, when first elected in 2015, promised to end all long-term drinking water advice to the First Nations by March 2021. His government did not meet that deadline.
Recently, Trinto secured what appears to be an easier path for his minority, the Liberal Government, to achieve some of its common priorities with the federal New Democrats by reaching an agreement with the party that would keep him in power until 20 .
Until then, Trinto, who is in his third term, will be prime minister for a decade.  Asked directly if the remaining 34 long-term boiling water instructions could be removed by that date, Hajdu replied: “I would hope so.”
“Listen, I was hoping for it. It was a commitment made by the prime minister in 2015. I know people were disappointed that we could not lift them all, and I was disappointed,” he said in a recent interview with the Canadian press.
“I hope we could do it before 2025. Realistically, I wish everyone had clean drinking water tomorrow.”
Lack of access to clean drinking water in stockpiles was a flaw in Canada’s already troubled relationship with Indigenous peoples.
Ensuring that every First Nation has clean tap water is considered a crucial part of achieving reconciliation.
While this step remains unfulfilled, another has been moved thousands of miles away.
About 200 indigenous people traveling to Rome heard Pope Francis apologize on Friday for the role of the Roman Catholic Church in running residential schools, where thousands of indigenous children were removed from their families and abused.
Ottawa did not participate in the delegation’s request, Hajdu said on Thursday.  But he cried when he described listening to leader Willie Littlechild, a spokesman, and a surviving housing school speaking in Rome.
“I am still moved when I think of the experiences of so many Indigenous people. It is really, really hard to believe the weight of the pain that families have endured.”
Regarding the elimination of long-term drinking water advice, Hajdu says it has a plan to contact each leader in the 34 communities under such notice, adding that each has a work plan.
He said Ottawa also now covers all maintenance and operating costs.
“It’s not a matter of money,” he says, “but rather a matter of logistics, which varies depending on the distance of a community and its infrastructure, which can slow down work.”
Housing in the first nations also remains an issue.  One of the priorities mentioned in the new agreement between the Liberals and the NDP is “to make a significant additional investment in the housing of the natives in 2022”.
The Assembly of First Nations had urged leaders to push for Treasury Secretary Chrystia Freeland to include $ 60 billion in her upcoming budget, of which $ 44 billion will be used to address current housing needs, including housing.
The national defense agency says an additional $ 16 billion is needed to tackle the growing population.
AFN estimates that 60 percent of First Nations homes are in need of repair and 30 percent are multi-generational homes.
Hajdu did not disclose what it asked for from the housing budget.
However, he said the government remains committed to filling the infrastructure gap in First Nations by 2030, which includes affordable housing.
One of the complicating factors, the minister added, is that some communities in need of housing do not have the land needed for construction, which takes time to obtain.
“When I talk about housing with First Nations communities, it’s not just the quantity of housing, but also the capacity to build new housing.”
This Canadian Press report was first published on April 2, 2022