The federal government has reached a settlement agreement of nearly 8 billion U.S. dollars with the Aboriginals, and the Aboriginals have initiated a class action lawsuit over the lack of clean and safe drinking water in their communities.
The Minister of Indigenous Services Marc Miller and the indigenous leader behind the lawsuit announced on Friday that they have reached an agreement in principle to resolve the out-of-court litigation.
Miller said the agreement includes $1.5 billion in compensation for people deprived of clean drinking water, a $400 million Aboriginal economic and cultural recovery fund, and at least $6 billion to support reliable access to protected areas. Safe drinking water.
He said that the agreement also includes a renewed commitment to Canada to cancel all long-term drinking water consultation action plans, support Aboriginal people to formulate their own safe drinking water laws and initiatives, and plans to modernize their drinking water legislation.
Trudeau promised to improve the drinking water of the indigenous peoples years later than planned: the federal government
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised in 2015 to remove all drinking water recommendations by March this year, but Miller admitted in December that the government would not achieve this goal.
Miller said on Friday that since November 2015, 108 long-term drinking water recommendations have been cancelled. According to Indigenous Services Canada, about 51 long-term recommendations are still valid in 32 communities.
Miller said at the press conference: “I can sit here and try to give you all the excuses in the world, but there is no credible excuse for such a long time in countries such as Canada.”
“In other words, our government has made these investments and has worked outside the court process. We are willing to sit down and finalize something, and this is the result. We don’t want to go to court because we agree.”
Miller did not provide a new deadline to cancel all long-term water recommendations, saying he wants to respect the right of indigenous communities to self-determination and the role they play in the process.
“It’s not as simple as Ottawa imposing a deadline and saying’we will do it’.” There is a partnership here, and we need to reflect on it,” he said.
The lawsuit was initiated by Tataskweyak Cree Nation of Manitoba and Curve Lake First Nation and Neskantaga First Nation of Ontario.
According to the plaintiff’s law firms Olthuis, Kleer, Townshend LLP and McCarthy Tetrault LLP, it claimed that Canada failed to ensure that clean water was kept in the community, thereby violating its obligations to the indigenous people and their members.
The Trudeau government approved $1.9 million for contractors who did not complete the Neskantaga water supply project on time
This class includes all the aboriginal members whose community has received drinking water consultation for one year or more since November 8, 1995.
In principle, the agreement still needs to be approved by the court.
Three aboriginal chiefs spoke on Friday about the impact of decades of boiling water recommendations in their communities, and they became emotional when they described seeing a child developing a rash and having to buy bottled water to bathe the baby.
Emily Whetung, head of Curve Lake First Nation, said that indigenous children need to grow up on the only land they have left. They should grow up in clean water.
“I’m overwhelmed by standing here today,” she said. “We made a difference. We reached an agreement in which we promised to provide water of the quality and quantity that most Canadians take for granted.”
Clayton Leonard, an attorney who has dealt with drinking water issues on behalf of some natives of Alberta for many years, said that in addition to class actions, there are at least five drinking water lawsuits against the federal government, including two by him. Customers bring.
He said he expects that the agreement will apply to all Indigenous people, not just Indigenous people in class actions.
“The terms of the agreement may in principle be extended to any indigenous people who have drinking water lawsuits, which is reasonable. If they don’t, they are just looking for more lawsuits,” Leonard said.
He also questioned whether the annual payment of US$6 billion of US$400 million is sufficient. He said that the Harper government commissioned a report on the cost of solving this problem in Canada and proposed $10 billion.
There is growing speculation that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is about to hold a general election, and his government’s record of indigenous reconciliation is expected to become a major issue.
The leader of the New Democratic Party, Jagmit Singh, visited the indigenous people of Neskantag earlier this week to pressure the federal government why it has failed to ensure that communities and others have safe drinking water.
He said on Friday that for a long time, indigenous people have had to fight for basic human rights in court-including access to clean drinking water.
“This is wrong. This shouldn’t happen,” Singh said in a statement.
He said that Trudeau violated his promise to cancel all long-term recommendations by March, which means that the indigenous people are paying a price for their health.
“We hope that all parties can reach a binding agreement as soon as possible, free from political interference, respect basic human dignity, and respect all the work done by indigenous leaders to get clean water into their communities.”
© 2021 Canadian Press
