Analysis of Safe Drinking Water Crisis in First Nations, Canada

This essay examines the persistent issue of providing safe drinking water to First Nations communities in Canada, highlighting the systemic problems and potential solutions. The lack of clear guidelines, jurisdictional disputes between federal departments, and inadequate funding contribute to long-standing drinking water advisories in numerous reserves. The essay emphasizes the need for clear rules and responsibilities, government audits to identify the most problematic areas, and communication with community members to develop effective solutions. Increased funding for local government bodies, enhanced training for operators, and strict guidelines aligned with Canadian water quality standards are crucial steps. By addressing these issues and prioritizing the rights of First Nations communities to safe and clean drinking water, the government can work towards eliminating this disparity and ensuring public health.

Safe drinking water
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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Problems of providing safe water................................................................................................................2
Remedies to the solution..............................................................................................................................3
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................4
References...................................................................................................................................................5
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Introduction
This editorial focuses on the issue of providing safe drinking water to the residents of First
Nations in Canada. This paper also discusses the reasons for which the government authorities
are unable to provide safe drinking water. Furthermore, the paper will also review how these
problems can be solved by these authorities.
Problems of providing safe water
The municipalities which follow the provincial rules and regulations have clear guidelines of
rules and responsibility. These government bodies knew how to respond to a particular problem
related to safe drinking water (Galway, 2016). However, this is not the case for the native
reserves of drinking water. It is a federal responsibility to provide safe drinking water to citizens
of Canada, however, lack of proper rules and responsibilities prevents them to do their duty
properly. The three federal departments, Aboriginal Affairs, Health Canada and Environment
Canada has developed a complex set of regulations on providing safe drinking water to the
native residents. It is not clearly mentioned which department is responsible for this federal duty,
resulting in quarrels regarding jurisdiction and responsibility. As a result of these ongoing
quarrels, drinking water advisories have been established in several towns of Canada
(Thompson, Post & McBean, 2017).
More than ninety-three DWAs are employed in these regions in the last two years. The most
common drinking water advisory established in these towns is to boil their water for a minute. In
few regions, native citizens of the country have been boiling their drinking water for quite some
time (Bradford, Bharadwaj, Okpalauwaekwe & Waldner, 2016). Despite a huge amount of
money is allocated in the budget, the government is unable to provide safe drinking water to their
residents. The Department of Health Canada has issued more than 133 drinking water advisories
in 126 First Nations communities. There are several DWAs which are employed in the region for
more than a decade. Due to lack of commitment from the government, these problems continue
to exist in these regions. The local government has developed and maintained these systems, and
they are responsible for training their operators. Despite these efforts, they are unable to solve
the problem related to providing safe drinking water to the residents of First Nations.
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Remedies for the solution
The conditions of living in these areas are appalling, however, this situation can be remedied by
the application of proper strategies. Clear guidelines regarding rules and responsibilities must be
developed to end the quarrel regarding the jurisdiction of the responsibility (Dunn, Bakker &
Harris, 2014). The government should immediately perform an audit to identify which reserves
are the most problematic in the area. In the next step, the government should figure out a way to
improve the quality of these problematic areas. They must communicate with the members of
these areas to figure out a solution. The local government and the federal government should
figure out a way to solve the level of disagreement about jurisdiction between them (Larson,
Stotts, Wutich, Brewis & White, 2016). The residents must write to their local councilors so that
they can figure out a way to minimize the problems related to providing safe drinking water.
More funding should be provided so that the local government bodies can develop and maintain
more systems. They can provide more training to the operators to provide safe drinking water to
the residents of First Nations in Canada. Training will allow the operators to identify the issues
associated with providing safe drinking water to the residents of these communities.
If the operators are able to identify these issues, they will able to rectify these problems at a
quicker pace. It will ensure that they are committed to providing safe drinking water to the
residents of First Nations. Thus, it will lead to decrease in the number of drinking water
advisories in these areas as well. They must develop strict guidelines regarding providing safe
drinking water to the residents of these areas. These guidelines will help the local authorities to
develop better systems and maintain them at their optimum level. The water reserves in these
areas must meet the standards of all the other reserves of Canada (Mitchell, 2015). These
legislations will help the government to maintain the quality and safety standards of the water,
making it safe to drink. The members of the community should be consulted and their opinions
regarding the problem must be considered. Public funding of the water services should be
encouraged so that everyone has access to safe drinking water in the community. Applying the
legislation, the local authorities will be able to lower the health risks associated with unsafe
drinking water.
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Conclusion
The members of the First Nation communities have the basic right to have access to safe and
clean drinking water. The paper concludes that the problems associated safe drinking water relate
to issues like lack of rules and regulations on behalf of the government. Applying rules and
regulations, and with the help of public funding, however, this issue can be eliminated.
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References
Bradford, L. E., Bharadwaj, L. A., Okpalauwaekwe, U., & Waldner, C. L. (2016). Drinking
water quality in Indigenous communities in Canada and health outcomes: a scoping
review. International journal of circumpolar health, 75(1), 32336.
Dunn, G., Bakker, K., & Harris, L. (2014). Drinking water quality guidelines across Canadian
provinces and territories: jurisdictional variation in the context of decentralized water
governance. International journal of environmental research and public health, 11(5),
4634-4651.
Galway, L. P. (2016). Boiling over: A descriptive analysis of drinking water advisories in First
Nations communities in Ontario, Canada. International journal of environmental
research and public health, 13(5), 505.
Larson, K. L., Stotts, R., Wutich, A., Brewis, A., & White, D. (2016). Cross-cultural perceptions
of water risks and solutions across select sites. Society & natural resources, 29(9), 1049-
1064.
Mitchell, B. (2015). Water risk management, governance, IWRM, and implementation. In Risk
Governance (pp. 317-335). Springer, Dordrecht.
Thompson, E. E., Post, Y. L., & McBean, E. A. (2017). A decade of drinking water advisories:
Historical evidence of frequency, duration, and causes. Canadian Water Resources
Journal/Revue canadienne des ressources hydriques, 42(4), 378-390.
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