24News.ca

WINNIPEG - Tears are flowing at the Manitoba legislature as an isolated reserve under one of the country's longest boil-water advisories receives a lifeline to the outside world.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett says Ottawa is joining other levels of government to build an all-weather road connecting the Shoal Lake 40 First Nation to the mainland.

The reserve on the Manitoba-Ontario boundary was cut off a century ago during construction of an aqueduct that carries fresh water to Winnipeg.

The community has been under a boil-water advisory for 18 years.

Bennett says funding the road is the right thing to do and is long overdue.

Chief Erwin Redsky says the $30-million road means his people will be able to get home safely and will make a water treatment plant affordable.