Evidence of meeting #7 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was governments.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
NDP
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
I have one brief question, Mayor Daykin. I believe you appeared before the committee when we were talking about the first nations water act. The City of Vancouver had raised some concerns with regard to servicing, specifically, and to liability.
I'm hearing this come up again around servicing. Could you just say a bit more about that? I think it's partly liability, but it's partly other issues as well.
Director and Chair, Aboriginal Relations Committee, Metro Vancouver
Sure. Let's take drinking water that's coming into the system. If it's in Metro Vancouver and, in our case, Maple Ridge pipes, it would come to the border of the first nations. Then it goes into their system. We have no control over that and no ability to monitor it. If there are challenges with that water, they're difficult to address once it leaves our system.
Conversely, if we're taking waste water from a first nations system, and it comes into ours and there are things in it that we don't want in it or shouldn't be in it, if it's a District of Maple Ridge business that's putting in the inappropriate substances, then we can ticket them. There are abilities to have some consequences of that action. Again, if it's coming off first nations lands, we just don't have that ability.
NDP
Jean Crowder NDP Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC
Thank you.
I want to thank you for mentioning the regional districts as well. It's something that's peculiar to British Columbia, and it needs to be included.
Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Chris Warkentin
Thank you.
Gentlemen, we thank you for coming today. We appreciate the fact that you've been willing to accommodate our sometimes uncertain schedules. We do appreciate that, and we want to thank you for coming and giving testimony.
Colleagues, we do have some committee business that needs to be taken care of. We'll suspend, go in camera, deal with that, and hopefully get out within the timeframe.
[Proceedings continue in camera]