Regulations

“I’m surprised at how long this issue has been going on. I mean, people say they care [and] they constantly cite the calls to action but there really is no action,” 

Jason Black Kettle, a first-year Communications and Media Studies major at the University of Calgary, is Blackfoot and a member of the Siksika Nation.

Canada has the third largest freshwater reserves in the world, yet many Indigenous communities do not have access to clean safe drinking water, a crisis that has existed for decades. Canada issues drinking water advisories to warn people not to drink unsafe water. These are issued when there are problems with the water treatment system, as well as when there are viruses, bacteria, parasites, or chemical contaminants in the water that cause diseases and health problems.

 “-my dad would always say ‘don’t drink the water, it’s no good’ and as a kid, I never really understood what that meant — I was maybe 7 or 8 years old at that time, but even then I understood that when I was in Calgary, nobody had ever told me not to drink the water.” 

Jason Black Kettle, a first-year Communications and Media Studies major at the University of Calgary, is Blackfoot and a member of the Siksika Nation.

Which glass of water would you like to drink?

“It should not take that long to … improve people’s lives on reserves and in communities when [the government] can do much, much more for regular Canadians at the drop of a hat when something like COVID-19 hits,”

Rob Houle, an Indigenous advocate from Swan River First Nation.

Water, Water everywhere, not a drop to drink – Samuel Taylor Coleridge

“The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) defines “contaminant” as any physical, chemical, biological or radiological substance or matter in water. … Some contaminants may be harmful if consumed at certain levels in drinking water.” (EPA, n.d.).

• (PFOS) were first released on the market, and once regulated, were progressively replaced by perfluorooctanoate (PFOA) and perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS), and later by perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA).
• In the early 2000s, the manufacture and import of PFOS and PFOA were eliminated in North America. Controversely, even if there has been a ban and restriction of the production and use of PFOS, other PFASs are still being widely used and found in consumer goods.
• The US government however, has been working on stopping the production and import of these long chain PFAS; including PFOS and PFOA.
• Canada and United States both have regulations to prevent widespread contamination, including legislation that bans some products made with PFAS and lower PFAS limits in drinking water.

The Government of Canada and First Nations are working together. They are trying to improve access to clean drinking water and lift the long-term advisories for drinking water as soon as possible.

As of May 17, 2021, 106 long-term drinking water advisories have been lifted. This means that there is reliable access to safe drinking water. Safe drinking water has been restored for 5920 homes and 447 buildings in 77 communities since November 2015. However, there is so much more work to do to address the remaining 53 long-term drinking water advisories in effect in 34 First Nations communities.

“The anticipated timeline for the Government of Canada to remove all long-term boil water advisories on public systems on reserves by Marc 2021 (Government of Canada, 2020a).“