Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty speaks with reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons on Tuesday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government will not set a new deadline for ending all long-term drinking water advisories in First Nations communities after the Liberals missed two previous dates for reaching the goal.
In the fall budget, Mr. Carney reaffirmed the commitment, first made by his predecessor Justin Trudeau, to end long-term drinking water advisories. However, Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty said Tuesday that goal will no longer come with a due date.
“The deadline goal is not part of my narrative,” Ms. Gull-Masty told The Globe and Mail in an interview on Parliament Hill. She made the comments after tabling a long-delayed bill aimed at enshrining safe drinking water for First Nations, called the First Nations Clean Water Act.
Revised legislation missing assertion that First Nations have right to clean drinking water
There are 38 active long-term drinking water advisories across First Nations communities in Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, according to a federal website. The Indigenous Services Minister said the proposed legislation is backed by $4.6-billion over five years to help communities access safe drinking water.
“I’m not going to place the pressure on communities and say you have to complete X, Y, Z by this day. The conversation is now: What do you need? What does that timeline look like for you?” Ms. Gull-Masty said.
“The narrative of we’re going to reach X by this day, that’s the previous government. I’m here with a new commitment, I’m a new minister, new government, new Prime Minister, new decisions, new pathway forward.”
During the 2025 election, the Liberals promised to legislate a right to clean drinking water for First Nations. The pledge was made after legislation to that effect brought in by Mr. Trudeau’s government died on the order paper when he prorogued Parliament and announced his resignation. The legislation is a long-delayed requirement from a 2021 class-action settlement.
Bill C-37, tabled on Tuesday, is the Carney government’s attempt to meet that requirement. With the bill, the government said it is closing an “unacceptable” legislative gap that has left First Nations communities with no legally enforceable safe drinking water protections.
“The thing that I am very focused on is passing the bill, because it unlocks the funding necessary for communities to do the work that they need to do right now,” Ms. Gull-Masty said.
However, the new bill drew mixed reactions from many Indigenous leaders and groups who have pressed the government to act on the issue.
The previous attempt, Bill C-61, “recognized and affirmed” that First Nations have a human right to clean and safe drinking water. The new bill does not. Instead, it declares the government will “further the progressive realization” of safe drinking water as a human right for people on First Nations lands.
The result is an “aspirational policy that carries little accountability,” said Michael Rosenberg, a partner with McCarthy Tétrault.
“The legal gymnastics in the new bill reflect an about-face on a point of great importance to First Nations.”
His firm argued the class action against the government along with lawyers from Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP. Despite the back-sliding, Mr. Rosenberg said C-37 is “nevertheless strong legislation.”
“It will go a long way toward preventing the drinking water advisories that have characterized life in too many reserve communities,” he said.
The bill’s development has also raised concerns. The government had first said it would be tabled last year. After that deadline passed, the lawyers took the government to court again last month to force the issue; only then did Ottawa agree to finally present the legislation, they said.
First Nations leaders said they were given no time to review the proposed legislation and were not consulted on any of the changes, including the wording that previously enshrined the human right to clean water.
Grand Chief Linda Debassige of the Anishinabek Nation said in a press conference Tuesday that the government’s failure to consult with them was intentional.
“I think it’s a deflection of responsibility, a fear of provinces, a fear of nation-building projects not coming through because our nations want to protect water,” she said.
Alberta and Ontario had opposed the previous iteration, Bill C-61, arguing it would undermine resource development.
National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak of the Assembly of First Nations told The Globe she wants to see the bill amended to clearly enshrine safe water as a human right.
“This government is continuing a troubling shift away from the explicit recognition of First Nations rights towards provincial priorities,” she said.
Ms. Gull-Masty did not rule out making amendments. She told reporters that the wording around human rights was changed in order to deliver a bill that wouldn’t be challenged in court and would “stand the test of time.”
However, Jesse McCormick, a former senior adviser in the Trudeau government on Indigenous relations and policy, and a member of the Anishinabek Nation, said Tuesday the revised wording also reflects hesitation on the government’s part.
He said the change removes the immediacy with which courts would require the government to act to end drinking water advisories, in the event of a legal challenge. Mr. McCormick, who is now senior counsel at Pape, Salter, Teillet LLP, said it also enables “a broader degree of discretion” in how Ottawa implements the bill.
“You’re seeing possibly a hesitation in government policy in terms of enacting rights through statute that they know the courts will be open to enforcing,” he said.
The NDP criticized the new bill, saying in a statement that it weakens the rights of First Nations. Conservative MP Billy Morin said in a press conference that the government needs to clearly say when communities can expect the boil-water advisories they are living under to end.
In her interview with The Globe, Ms. Gull-Masty, who is the first Indigenous person to lead her department, said her goal is for the bill to “reinforce and protect communities.”
Asked whether that will mean fewer boil-water advisories, she said, “Ideally none.”
“Are there going to be some? I hope not. My ultimate goal is that it’s zero.”
With a report from The Canadian Press