First Nations And Water Rights

To understand the current state of the safe water issue for our First Nation people, it is important to look at some current statistics. The Council of Canadians (2015) reports that “as of January 2015, there have been 169 drinking water advisories in 126 First Nation communities. With Ontario having the highest number 79, followed by British Columbia 35, Saskatchewan 24, Alberta 17, the Atlantic 7 and Quebec 2.” (p. 6) The graphic below helps us see the severity of the issue by showing the drinking water

According to the Canadian Council of Social Justice, poor water quality and unsanitary living conditions have cause over 1000 residents to be evacuated in some cases and over 21 communities are considered high-risk for water contamination (Safe Water for First Nations, n.d.). There are different levels of risk within the accessible water issue which are a boil water advisory, do not consume and advisory (Eggerston, 2015). Within Ontario specifically, there were 158 water systems that were tested and 46% were considered high-risk and 16% are low overall risk (Dupont et al., 2014). Within in Canada there is a slew of

“Access to safe water is a fundamental human need and, therefore, a basic human right. Contaminated water jeopardizes both the physical and social health of all people. It is an affront to human dignity.” — Kofi Annan, prior United Nations Secretary-General

Living Canada, it is hard to believe what it would be like to not have a virtually unlimited supply of freshwater. In places and areas where freshwater is not that easy to get, such as the drought in California that is so highly talked about, as well as places in Africa who wonder if they will have enough fresh water to last the rest of the week. Being a country of high strength in this resource we have to think if we are going to help some to these countries or not. This piece writing will explain what freshwater really is and whether Canada should export our water to the United States of America and why we should not.

The US can be a leader in the fight for water equality by formally declaring water a human right. The US is in a unique position, because we have already done so much to aid people in water-stressed regions. This experience will be invaluable in escalating our efforts to secure the natural human right to clean and sustainable water for our allies in Sub-Saharan Africa. We can dedicate our vast resources and capable personnel in innovative and strategic ways to this most noble of all causes to bring prosperity abroad and secure it for posterity at home.

Thanks to the United Nations general assembly recognizing the need for clean water in Resolution 64/292, the states and international organizations have been called on to provide funding and resources to help developing countries provide safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water to all. This is a step in the right direction, seeing as women and children in some countries have to walk more than 30 minutes to collect water- if there is any water to collect at all.

Water is just more than drinking water. Water is the most basic and vital resource that humans need to sustain themselves. Water is used for food production from irrigating crops to actually manufacturing them. Canada like the world, uses water for sanitation, cleaning, manufacturing and daily function. Demand and supply will soon be at a crossroad, as increasing population creates increases in pollution, waste-water and global warming (Baker, 2007). This paper will seek to examine the effects of global warming on Canada’s freshwater system, the effects of pollution and will evaluate how Canada manages its freshwater now and what Canada can do to form policies that will adapt to the future crisis in Canada’s freshwater.

Water, like food, is a necessity for human life that is used for many purposes such as agricultural, industrial, and domestic systems. While water is a common element around the world not all of it is clean and able to be consumed or used by humans. With only a percentage of the world’s water being clean and the use of water increasing, the availability of water around the world has become a common issue in the developing and even the developed world. This may be a smaller problem in areas close to clean water sources compared to areas far from a clean water source but, the availability of water is not strictly based on location, it also depends on the specific political and social needs and issues of the area as well. These all become issues that must be accounted for when deciphering whether water is a basic human right or a commodity and what action must be taken to aid the developing water systems in community’s that lack them.

Globally, over seven hundred and eighty-three million people do not have access to clean water (The Water Project, 2016). Millions of people have to struggle endlessly to fill up pails of water for themselves and their families; however, this does not happen in America. Water contamination and access, or lack thereof, is a third world issue. The United States is a global empire, wealthy, and the land of opportunity; Flint, Michigan became a local cesspool, impoverished, and without basic drinking water. The visual of desolate villagers walking miles for water is not the universal or unique image anymore. The ordinary town of Flint became a national icon for water scarcity and paranoia. Water contamination, disease outbreak and widespread panic

The four nations coming from different societies dictate the possibility of having different ideas and forms of government. The Water Tribe has a chiefdom-like government, it very much so resembles a native government with customs like, “When they turn fourteen, Southern Water Tribe children are taken on a rite of passage known as ice dodging, a sport where the children must control a ship in turbulent water riddled with large, haphazard chunks of ice. After completing the ritual, they are given marks of honor.” ( "Water Tribe." Avatar Wiki) The northern and southern tribes follow this kind of government, but the water benders that live in the swamps follow a less strict kind of government.

The First Nations water issue made the UN and at least one NGO to get the attention of Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to focus on water issues for First Nations Canadian. The UN also reported that the First Nation doesn’t have proper water protocols. It results for the government to respect to economic rights to water and its cultural meaning for First Nations peoples. According to Vice News, the company Unique Foods Canada announced that they will give 30,000 of their vitamin-enriched water to Shoal Lake 40 and to other First Nations. The Chief of Six Nations said that the community was grateful for the donation, but Daryl Redsky of Shoal Lake 40 says it’s only a temporary solution for the problem. The First Nations peoples also

Life springs up around water sources. It is no coincidence that some of the greatest civilizations have been build need fertile bodies of water. Known life relies on water to sustain that life. So it is no surprise when a debate arose in 2013 around comments made by Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck regarding privatization of water and the fundamental human right to survive from dehydration and illness from non-portal water consumption. Although the context of Brabeck’s comment was taken out of context, issues surrounding the access companies like Nestlé have been given to bottle their water when people do not have access to clean water and droughts are threatening crop production. Adding a price tag is not the answer. The market, both these companies and their consumers have a major role to play in the management of water; a role that requires a change in mindset of privilege many citizen of the United States, and other countries that do not see the direct effects that serious clean water issue have on people that do not have it.

As the worlds population grows, it is forced by circumstances that it has created to face the limitations of the worlds resources. Most people in the US have always been fortunate enough to have enough of whatever they wanted. When something they like breaks or wears out, they throw it away or buy a new one, and they often don’t even make an attempt to repair an item. They neglect basic maintenance until they damage their belongings beyond repair, and expect that they’ll always have enough. But some things are beyond their control, beyond there power or financial ability to replace or repair. The world’s drinking water supply is one of these without concern, without attention, without preventative maintenance and reclamation and

In today’s society, the idea of a limited resource is not a foreign concept. Most people understand that eventually humans will use up many of these resources, such as fossil fuels, and they will cease to exist. However, very rarely does a conversation about limited resources get started over the water. While water itself is not a limited resource, clean drinkable water is becoming scarcer as people continue to use excess water. The documentary “Last Call at the Oasis” highlights how precious water is to survival and just how much miss use of water occurs in the United States alone. Even though the United States has gone down the wrong path with its water consumption methods, it may not be too late to recover. With the proper systems and education in place, the chances of delaying a water crisis increase exponentially.

Water is a human right, not a commodity. It is the essence of life, sustaining every living being on the planet. Without it we would have no plants, no animals, no people. However, while water consumption doubles every twenty years our water sources are being depleted, polluted and exploited by multinational corporations. Water privatization has been promoted by corporations and international lending institutions as the solution to the global water crises but the only one’s who benefit from water privatization are investors and international banks. The essential dilemma of privatization is that the profit interests of private water utilities ultimately jeopardizes the safeguarding of the human right to water. Access to clean, sufficient