Reconciling Promises and Reality: Clean Drinking Water for First Nations
Published by:
David Suzuki Foundation
Authored by:
Jessica Lukawiecki,
Rachel Plotkin,
Alaya Boisvert
ISBN:
978-1-988424-13-2
Environmental rights drinking water advisories, right to a healthy environment, human health and wellbeing, Indigenous Peoples, land use, policy and regulation, water systems
Drinking water advisories have been a persistent injustice in First Nations. Currently, more than 100 communities go without clean drinking water. Many have faced these conditions for years, or even decades. The David Suzuki Foundation is pleased to release its second report on First Nations drinking water in Canada.
In February 2017, the David Suzuki Foundation, in partnership with the Council of Canadians, released the report: Glass Half Empty? Year 1 progress toward resolving drinking water advisories in nine First Nations in Ontario. The report concluded that although work to end DWAs had begun, the federal government was not on track to fulfil its commitment made in to end long-term drinking water advisories in First Nations across Canada within five years. A year has passed since our first report; this second annual report assesses government’s progress along a set of 14 indicators, developed from the recommendations in the previous report. The report also features stories of First Nations leadership in resolving their communities’ drinking water crises. Overall, our assessments indicate that while some steps are being taken by the federal government to address the First Nations drinking water crisis in Canada, they fall short of the strides that are needed for this government’s promises to become a reality.
