Canada's federal government has unveiled its long-awaited legislation aimed at protecting clean drinking water for all First Nations. The bill was presented as a step toward a reality in which children can drink safely from the tap and families can trust the water in their homes.
The legislation is known as Bill C-37, the First Nations Clean Water Act. According to the government, it is designed to address the long-standing boil water advisories that have affected many communities and to give them the opportunities they deserve.
A central aim of the bill is to put legal protections in place. It seeks to legally protect access to safe drinking water, extending those protections to the water that communities rely on.
The scale of the problem the bill is meant to tackle remains significant. There are currently 38 long-term boil water advisories and seven short-term advisories across the country.
One case stands out for its sheer length. The longest-running advisory in the country sits at 33 years and is in Neskantaga First Nation, underscoring how entrenched the issue has become.
Neskantaga is a fly-in community located about 400 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Because the advisory has lasted so long, there are young people in the community who have had to boil their water for their entire lives.
Officials framed the measure in terms of basic rights, stating that water is a human right for all of their people. The goal set out alongside the legislation is to ensure that children and youth can have access to water and drink it knowing that it is safe.