First Nations drinking water.
Authority will take on task of providing clean, safe drinking water
HALIFAX — First Nations communities across the Atlantic region have taken a step toward overcoming the problem of inadequate access to clean and safe drinking water that has plagued Canada’s Indigenous population for more than a century.
Marc Miller, federal minister of Indigenous Services, touted the framework agreement signed Tuesday for an Indigenous-led water authority as a first in Canada and a way forward to further reconciliation.
“This framework agreement represents a significant milestone and an important step towards the full autonomous First Nationsled operation of water and wastewater services for 15 communities serving approximately 4,500 homes and businesses,” Miller said of the Atlantic First Nations Water Authority that has been in the works for more than a decade.
“This is an exciting day for our First Nations communities,” said Albert Marshall, chairman of the authority board and chief of the Potlotek First Nation in Richmond County, that has suffered through years of undrinkable tap water.
“Today represents a significant step in ensuring the Atlantic authority’s success and member communities have access to safe drinking water and a long future.”
Carl Yates, the former longtime general manager of Halifax Water, is the interim chief executive officer of the Atlantic First Nations Water Authority.
“This is a unique opportunity to build the utility from the ground up to ensure stable water and wastewater service for existing and future generations, a utility owned and operated by First Nations for First Nations will enhance service to participating communities and deliver social, economic and environmental benefits that many other Canadians take for granted,” Yates said during the online announcement.
The authority is a legal corporation that will be run as a non-political, not-for-profit business.
“With my appointment as interim CEO, I will be given the opportunity to continue to work with First Nations to realize their vision of self-determination,” Yates said. “Nothing could be more sacred to this theme than the stewardship of water. With the framework agreement in place, we are on a path to stand up a fully operational utility by spring 2022. Suffice it to say, there is much work to be done and we look forward to engaging with those who will join on this journey.”
Immediately joining the authority on its journey are 15 First Nations, nine from Nova Scotia, four from New Brunswick and two from Prince Edward Island.
Yates said the authority will be reaching out to communities and operators who want to join.
“The utility model is scalable, it can easily grow to include all 33 First Nations communities in Atlantic Canada,” Yates said.
He said the First Nations communities already on board, including Potlotek, Acadia, Eskasoni, Glooscap, Sipekne’katik, Membertou, Millbrook, Paqtnek and Pictou Landing in Nova Scotia, require some work on their water systems.The six remaining First Nations signed on are Elsipogtog, Tobique, Eel River Bar and Oromocto in New Brunswick and Lennox Island and Abegweit in Prince Edward Island.
“All the (water) assets will be transferred to the water authority to own and operate and then, by taking a direct look at the condition of all assets, we will develop a business plan over time,” Yates said.
“All infrastructure will be brought up to standards that exist across the land. We anticipate this could be a journey of five to 10 years to get everything into shape. In particular, we are going to see more investment on wastewater.”
Yates said the authority’s mandate is to improve the level of service for all participating communities.
“We expect that over time we will be achieving water quality that meets the highest standard in the land, both from what goes into the taps of the home and what comes out through the drains,” Yates said.
An authority business case was submitted to the federal government in August of last year, estimating an annual operating cost of $11 million and capital costs of more than $230 million over a 25-year period.
Yates, who has been involved with the project for seven years, said there are no defined rate structures currently in First Nations communities but that the federal government provides 80 per cent of operations and maintenance costs for water systems and the community picks up the other 20 per cent. Yates said that division of costs would be unlikely to change.
Yates said investments in water services support community growth.
“We have a clear mandate to hire a First Nations workforce to the fullest extent possible, from the senior management team, office staff, to the operators in the field,” he said. “The search for the senior management team is underway and we will have all the managers in place by April 1 of next year.”
While there are currently no long-term water advisories on public systems in any First Nations in Atlantic Canada, the minister conceded that the historical lack of access to clean water in Indigenous communities is evidence of both overt and systemic racism.
“This is really a step along the process of self-determination, ensuring that people who know best their communities are able to take the action needed,” Miller said.
The announcement Tuesday transfers from the federal government department to the authority responsibility for development and administration of water and wastewater services.
“In other words, the Atlantic First Nations Water Authority can be empowered to make decisions on water system design, uprades, capital budgets, our own procurement practices and, most importantly, the water authority is a member of the utilities that will move year-over-year funding agreements to a long-term agreement which will allow us to plan years in the future for operations and maintenance of our infrastructure,” said Marshall.