First Nations Water and Sanitation Security

In a handful of communities – Batchewana, Grassy Narrows, Shoal Lake 40, Neskantaga, and Six Nations of the Grand River – a large number of households face water advisories. Human Rights Watch conducted surveys in these communities and interviewed community leaders, residents, water operators, educators, health professionals, academics, and staff of aboriginal representative organizations.

HEALTH

The Constitution Act, 1867, gives the federal government jurisdiction over First Nations. Though the buck stops with the federal department, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), the authority to build, operate, and monitor reserve water systems rests primarily with councils on reserves.

Despite the fact that councils are responsible for monitoring household drinking water systems, few have the resources and training to keep up with system needs. This contributes to recurrent problems such as ongoing boil water advisories. In the case of communities like Batchewana, Grassy Narrows, Neskantaga, Shoal Lake 40, and Six Nations of the Grand River, long-term advisories have led to a generation growing up without access to safe drinking water.

In addition to providing funding to address investment needs, the federal government should enact binding regulations to ensure reserve residents enjoy equal protections for their water as Canadians in urban centres. This will require support for source water protection planning for waters affecting reserve and treaty lands, and remediation co-management plans that include First Nations.

SOCIAL

Most of Canada’s municipal drinking water systems are regulated with strict guidelines and protocols on water quality. On reserves, however, First Nations communities are subject to a lack of binding regulations, leaving them at a distinct disadvantage in meeting their human rights obligations.

In recent years, the federal government has made some effort to promulgate regulations and invest in reserve water systems. The Government commissioned a national risk assessment and announced funding to help communities end long-term boil-water advisories.

Yet, financial commitments alone will not solve the drinking water crisis. The federal government must address a wide range of other issues that contribute to the problem, including:

For example, it should ensure that health-related data about water quality is collected at the community level and shared with all communities. It should also enable First Nations to build upon each other’s experiences, knowledge, and design options for sustainable and cost-effective water systems. And it should promote cooperation between communities in sharing best practices in operating and maintaining their water systems so they can support each other when problems arise.

CULTURAL

Indigenous communities experience drinking water insecurity despite government investments (Phare 2009; McGregor 2012). According to a recent risk assessment, nearly 40% of First Nation drinking water systems are considered high-risk compared to 14% for Ontario municipal systems. Moreover, drinking water policies that do not align with Indigenous ways of knowing and doing are unlikely to respect the safety of First Nations’ drinking water.

Human Rights Watch conducted research on First Nations water and sanitation issues in five communities in Ontario: Batchewana, Grassy Narrows, Shoal Lake 40, Neskantaga, and Six Nations of the Grand River. We surveyed 99 households, representing 352 people, and held 111 qualitative interviews with community members, council members, water operators, educators, environmental health experts, academics, and representatives of Aboriginal representative organizations. In addition, we reviewed existing government data on drinking water risk and advisories, funding allocations, demographics, and system characteristics. Lastly, we advocated for measures to strengthen the accountability of INAC with respect to First Nations’ rights to safe and clean water.

ECONOMIC

In Canada, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, a significant number of First Nations reserve residents cannot drink their own tap water. Despite billions of dollars in investment over decades, this is still the case.

The federal government has made some efforts to adopt regulations for drinking water on reserves in recent years. However, these are non-binding protocols incorporated into contracts between the federal government and First Nations, rather than law. In the absence of regulation and despite significant investments, the designs of systems on reserves frequently fail to meet the standards used in comparable communities off-reserve.

The Trudeau government’s commitment to bring community and household water and sanitation up to the standard of comparable communities off-reserve is welcome, but it should be accompanied by enforceable regulations, sufficient funds for capital, operation, and maintenance costs of systems, and mechanisms to monitor progress. These measures will help to alleviate the water crisis for many First Nations people.