01-40_WC_149_JUL-AUG26_PT - Flipbook - Page 32
INDIGENOUS
“A lot of wrongs were done and really not that long ago in the
context of when treaties were ultimately signed and (the context
of) the Indian Act but it’s really about the attitudes of where we’re
going to put our efforts as a country,” she said. “Right now we’re
talking about big builds and who’s even interested in talking about
drinking water anymore?”
She added there are questions of who has jurisdiction in terms
of water rights.
“Is it the province or the federal government, or the case where
a Nation is adjoining a municipality? There’s so much misunderstanding and nobody really has a drive to provide that clarity and
work together as people who live in B.C. or Canada,” Cook said.
The 2025 federal budget proposed $2.3 billion over three years
to improve access to safe drinking water on reserves.
In June, the federal government introduced new legislation
aimed at closing the regulatory gap for drinking water on
First Nations lands, backed by a historic $4.6-billion funding
commitment.Bill C-37, the proposed First Nations Clean Water
Act, represents a renewed legislative push following more than six
years of consultation, engagement, and parliamentary study of its
predecessor, Bill C-61.
“Together, these efforts build on the $7.1 billion in funding
committed since 2016 to support First Nations water and wastewater
infrastructure,” Su said. “These investments, along with the new water
legislation, will help support sustainable water services in First Nations
communities.”
While Cook lauded the federal government’s work over the past
decade, she said she is concerned the clean drinking water is getting
lost amongst other current issues.
“A lot of money was put towards the problem and I won’t fault that.
A lot of tremendous projects were taken across the finish line as a result
of that focus,” Cook said.
Awareness of the problem also increased across Canada,
she added.
“If you went back to 2010, not many people would have any idea
about the problem, so there was good that came out of it. I’m just worried
that some of that momentum has kind of been forgotten about.”
“It took well over a hundred years to get to where we were in 2015,
and to look at it and throw some billions of dollars at it and then walk
away or maybe focus on other things, I’d say there’s failure there and I
would hate to see all that hard monetary investment not reach its full
potential,” Cook said.
FURTHER READING
Saadi, S. and C.Johns 2026. “From Permits to Policy: Insights from
a Comprehensive Analysis of Ontario’s Water Use Data 19602022”, Canadian Water Resources Journal, 1-34.
Saadi, S., C.Johns and D.Parades 2025. “Groundwater Use in Ontario:
An Analysis of Open Data”, Canadian Water Resources Journal, 1-30.
32
WATER C AN ADA • JULY/AUGUS T 2026
WATERCANADA.NE T
