A federal judge has sided with two First Nations in Manitoba and one in Ontario that sued the Canadian government over its duty to provide them with safe housing and clean drinking water, in separate rulings delivered Friday.
The federal government has had a duty to ensure Shamattawa First Nation, and other First Nations who opt into the northern Manitoba First Nation’s class-action, were provided access to drinking water safe for human use over the claim period, Justice Paul Favel said in a decision.
Shamattawa launched the class-action, which was certified in 2023, on behalf of all First Nations members countrywide whose communities were subject to a drinking water advisory in effect on or after June 20, 2020.
It would also depend on other things. Even if they are currently on their traditional lands, they might still be limited by the size of the reservation they were given which could have no access to water other than ground wells, no rivers or lakes. Then the government should also be responsible for them.
I mean, if there was no natural water supply it wouldn’t have been part of their traditional lands.
The big exception I see is if resource extraction had caused pollution or other direct problems that make a traditional water source unsafe.
Reserve and traditional lands are different things
If the lake or river is one their traditional lands but not on their reserve, they wouldn’t be able to build the infrastructure that gets the water from the river to the reserve where they live unless they truck it in every day.
And we know resource extraction has happened a lot in remote regions. I mean who’s heard of a mine opening in downtown Toronto?
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