Green Party Leader Elizabeth May says Ottawa, the province of Manitoba and the City of Winnipeg should get together to help the people of a First Nations community that's been under a boil-water advisory for 17 years.

She's calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt to restore ferry service to the Shoal Lake 40 community from the mainland.

The service was abruptly cancelled last week due to needed repairs to the vessel, effectively cutting off the reserve from access to food, clean water and emergency medical attention.

May is urging Harper and Valcourt to work with Manitoba and Winnipeg to build an all-weather access road to the community, which was cut off from the mainland a hundred years ago to divert fresh water from Shoal Lake to Winnipeg.