A Review of the Engagement Sessions for the Federal Action Plan on Safe Drinking Water for First Nations
Position Statement
April 14, 2009
Executive Summary
Safe drinking water is an urgent issue for First Nations. The Safe Drinking Water Foundation (SDWF)’s Advanced Aboriginal Water Treatment Team (AAWTT) conducted a review of the recent federal engagement sessions and concludes that Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) has not been meeting its obligations to provide safe drinking water.INAC paid for the Expert Panel assessment of First Nations Drinking Water in 2006(1), and then announced that it would hold two-day consultation sessions to obtain input from First Nations on the Federal Action Plan on Safe Drinking Water for First Nations. Eventually, in 2009, INAC invited First Nations to participate in single-day engagement sessions. These invitations were problematic because First Nations communities did not receive adequate notice to attend, and the timing of the sessions overlapped with critical annual budgeting events2, which prevented many leaders from attending. The facilitators provided misleading or incomplete information to participants, and government voices tended to dominate the conversations, advocating for a particular goal: having water quality on reserves be subject to variations of less strict provincial guidelines3 instead of the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality, thereby abdicating its fiduciary responsibility and liability for First Nations drinking water quality.
In the spring of 2007, the federal government transferred responsibility and liability for drinking water to the Chief and Council of each First Nation by changing the small print of contribution agreements. Each community is required to sign and accept the contribution agreement before funds for any service can flow from INAC to the community for that fiscal year. A few bands that tried to refuse signing the agreements had funds withheld for housing, education, health services, or for water projects; these bands eventually signed the contribution agreements. Today, many First Nation leaders remain unaware of this change. Some communities have successfully rejected it, however, by way of Band Council Resolutions (BCRs). These BCRs have reversed the onus for responsibility and liability for water quality back to INAC by stating that they reject such responsibility until their respective communities have water treatment systems that are capable of consistently producing safe drinking water that meets all parameters of the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality.
The SDWF’s AAWTT feels that Chiefs should further reinforce existing Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Resolutions(5) and Initiatives(6)
1. Responsibility and liability for providing safe drinking water should be passed back to INAC until such a time as communities have water treatment plants that can, at a minimum, consistently meet all 56 health parameters of the Guidelines for Canadian Drinking Water Quality, but preferably meet or exceed European Union (EU) or United States (U.S.) Regulations. A time frame should be given to INAC to comply with this standard (perhaps two years).
2. All First Nations people living on reserves have a right to safe drinking water, whether in wells, cisterns or distribution lines, and this responsibility must also be carried by INAC and accomplished within the same time frame.
3. In keeping with AFN resolutions, an independent First Nation Water Commission should be established and should include water keepers to act as protectors or guardians of First Nations water quality. These guardians must have the authority to actively participate in all First Nation project meetings with INAC and/or Health Canada (HC) and to hold INAC and HC accountable for acting in the best interests of the First Nations people.
>> Download report A Review of the Engagement Sessions for the Federal Action Plan on Safe Drinking Water for First Nations.
