Ottawa duty-bound to provide safe drinking water to First Nations, federal judge rules – The Globe and Mail
The Canadian government has a duty to ensure First Nations behind a class-action lawsuit have access to clean drinking water, a federal judge has ruled.
The case, the third major class-action lawsuit brought forward in recent years over unsafe water in First Nations communities, was filed by Shamattawa First Nation and its Chief, Jordna Hill, and was certified in 2023.
Shamattawa, a Treaty 5 First Nation in northern Manitoba, is a fly-in community that has faced “a near constant” drinking-water advisory since December of 2018, according to the decision filed on Friday by Federal Court Justice Paul Favel.
Fifty-nine other First Nations have joined the class action, which is seeking $1.1-billion in damages.
