{"id":313563,"date":"2025-11-29T03:15:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T03:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/313563\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T03:15:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T03:15:09","slug":"first-nations-chiefs-press-ottawa-to-revive-drinking-water-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/313563\/","title":{"rendered":"First Nations chiefs press Ottawa to revive drinking water bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Empty water jugs hang outside a locked door on Oct. 26, 2020, in Neskantaga First Nation after the community was evacuated because of a water crisis.DAVID JACKSON\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

First Nations are pressing the Carney government to obey a four-year-old court settlement and pass long-promised drinking water<\/a> legislation before year\u2019s end or risk more legal action. <\/p>\n

Bill C-61, the First Nations Clean Water Act, died on the order paper with the spring election call. Introduced in 2023, the proposed legislation would have set minimum standards for drinking water on reserves, acknowledged First Nations\u2019 jurisdiction over water on their lands and recognized safe drinking water as a human right.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs of Ontario (COO), a group representing the leaders of 133 First Nations<\/a> in the province, passed a resolution calling on the government to retable Bill C-61 immediately.<\/p>\n

And the Siksika Nation in Alberta has accused Ottawa of violating a legal commitment to pass the bill and fund First Nations water upgrades. <\/p>\n

Nearly a decade after Ottawa pledged safe drinking water for all First Nations, promise remains unfulfilled<\/a><\/p>\n

Under the terms of a 2021 class-action lawsuit settlement, Ottawa agreed to spend at least $6-billion upgrading water and wastewater infrastructure and pass a law to ensure reserves have safe water. <\/p>\n

In July, Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty\u2019s office said the government intended to reintroduce the legislation during the fall session.<\/p>\n

With that session ending Dec. 12, several chiefs have lost faith that C-61 will reappear by year\u2019s end and say litigation is their sole recourse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only option that we have, it would seem, is to go back to court,\u201d said R. Donald Maracle, Chief of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte. \u201cAnd that\u2019s not what the drinking water settlement was supposed to do. It\u2019s supposed to ensure that First Nations have safe drinking water.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Siksika Nation said much the same in a letter to Ms. Gull-Masty earlier this year, vowing that it would resort to legal action if Canada failed to reintroduce the legislation by the end of 2025. <\/p>\n

So far, the letter \u2013 and several like it from other nations \u2013 has gone unanswered, said lawyer Clayton Leonard, who represents Siksika and other First Nations on drinking water issues. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey turtled on C-61 completely \u2013 we\u2019re not hearing anything from them,\u201d he said. \u201cI think the conclusion a lot of nations are reaching is litigate or go home.\u201d <\/p>\n

First Nations leaders had hoped the fall budget would mention drinking water legislation. Instead, the sole commitment on First Nations water was a continuation of existing funding of roughly $777-million a year. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe budget tells me that there is going to be no legislation introduced, or that the legislation is going to be weakened,\u201d said Linda Debassige, Grand Chief of the Anishinabek Nation, a political organization comprising 39 First Nations across Ontario.<\/p>\n

First Nations voice concerns over lower drinking water funding in federal budget<\/a><\/p>\n

In an e-mailed statement, Ms. Gull-Masty said the government is \u201cworking carefully to make sure the new legislation is strong, effective, and truly reflects the needs and priorities of First Nations communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI take this issue very seriously and hope to have more to say very soon,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n

Since 2015, successive Liberal governments have spent more than $5-billion on water infrastructure projects on First Nations and lifted 149 long-term drinking water advisories. But 38 advisories remain in place. A recent Auditor-General\u2019s report found that nine have lasted a decade or longer. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Neskantaga First Nations Chief Chris Moonias looks into the water reservoir tank on Oct. 26, 2020.DAVID JACKSON\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear what\u2019s holding up the bill. In June, the environment ministers of Alberta and Ontario asked their federal counterpart to scrap all policies and legislation that undermine economic growth, including C-61. Ontario\u2019s Todd McCarthy later apologized.<\/p>\n

Chiefs are also concerned that another piece of the 2021 settlement \u2013 the $6-billion obligation for water infrastructure \u2013 has disappeared. <\/p>\n

Several chiefs attending a COO assembly last week said federal officials told them the $6-billion is already gone, despite the many water projects in their communities that remain unfunded. <\/p>\n

Ms. Gull-Masty\u2019s statement did not directly address a question about the sum. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhere did the $6-billion go?\u201d Mr. Maracle said. \u201cSome class-action members didn\u2019t get any money at all.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Empty water jugs hang outside a locked door on Oct. 26, 2020, in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,66,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-313563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-science","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}