Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty called it a “historic day” when she tabled long-awaited legislation meant to safeguard drinking water for First Nations, many of whom are left without water to drink, wash, cook or fight fires.
Among other things, Bill C-37, the First Nations Clean Water Act, proposes to provide minimum standards for water quality and pathways to facilitate source water protection.
The government says the bill aims to ensure that First Nations “have legally enforceable protections for safe drinking water, consistent with those provided to other communities in Canada.” It would also affirm the right of First Nations to self-government over “water, source water, drinking water, wastewater, and related infrastructure on, in, and under their lands.”
The announcement came less than three weeks after the federal government filed court documents downplaying any obligations it owes First Nations on this issue. As the Investigative Journalism Bureau has reported, the government has been taking an increasingly aggressive stance in legal battles with First Nations fighting for clean drinking water.
Lawyers for First Nations told the IJB they have trouble squaring commitments in the new Bill C-37 with the government’s tough litigating stance. They also expressed concern at altered wording when it came to water as a human right.
“It is declared to be the policy of the Government of Canada to further the progressive realization, for individuals on First Nation lands, of the human right to safe drinking water,” the new bill states.
This is weaker language than the bill that C-37 replaces, which died after parliament was paused when Prime Minister Jutin Trudeau stepped down in early 2025. That bill had stated, “It is recognized and affirmed that it is a human right of every individual on First Nations land to have access to clean and safe drinking water in accordance with this Act.”
Michael Rosenberg, who represents some First Nations in drinking water legal battles, wrote in an email to the IJB that the change to human-right wording amounts to “legal gymnastics” that “reflect an about face on a point of great importance to First Nations,” he said.
“The federal government has turned a clear recognition of a right to safe drinking water on reserve into an aspirational policy that carries little accountability.”
Rosenberg added this change in language appears to be a direct response to the federal government’s continued legal fight “to deny the right to safe drinking water on reserve.”
Asked about this, a spokesperson for Minister Gull-Masty said in part that the bill “commits the government to the progressive realization of the human right to safe drinking water on First Nation lands and provides a clear objective on how we will get there.”
Despite calling out its flaws, Rosenberg said the bill is long overdue. While he called it imperfect, he said it is strong legislation that is a better option than a legislative vacuum.
“Today is about realizing a reality where children can drink safely from the tap, where families can trust the water in their homes,” Gull-Masty told reporters Tuesday, flanked by caucus colleagues.
“Across Canada, there are laws and regulations that set minimum standards for drinking water. But in First Nations communities, there is not. This legislative gap that impacts only First Nations people is unacceptable and must be addressed.”
But the bill “is missing some essential elements,” Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse-Nepinak said in a statement. She took issue with what she characterized as weak source water protection, a lack of sustainable funding, and ambiguity around the definition of First Nations lands.
The section of the bill that says First Nations’ right of self-government applies to water “on, in and under First Nation lands” is a “big win,” lawyer Clayton Leonard said – especially for nations in parched western regions.
But he says what Canada has done to what was once a recognition of the human right to drinking water underscores the importance of his client’s push to get the right recognized in court.
“It’s not a recognition of the human right to safe drinking water. It’s a mealy-mouthed policy statement.”
