A pivotal bill that would have ensured First Nations had clean water and wastewater services that are on par with Canadian cities could die with the collapse of the Liberal government.
Bill C-61, the First Nations Clean Water Act, is one of several bills that could be doomed, after Trudeau’s resignation on Monday prompted a Liberal leadership race and prorogation of Parliament. Under a prorogation, all bills that did not reach royal assent are wiped off the board and must be reintroduced once Parliament returns to sit. Parliament will be prorogued until March 24, and it’s unclear if the First Nations Clean Water Act will be brought back onto the legislative table before an election is triggered.
John P. Brown, the executive director of the First Nations Advisory Committee on Safe Drinking Water, calls the bill “imperfect” but essential. It would have legislated “for the very first time that Canada had the duty and obligation to provide adequate access to clean water to First Nations across the country”.
Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, the Assembly of First Nations National Chief, calls the failure to pass bill C-61 “a failure to uphold commitments to First Nations and their right to safe drinking water.”
