What I put in here is that an independent committee will need to be established—in consultation and co-operation with first nations governing bodies—and required to produce annual reports as the result of consultation and collaboration, as well as a five-year review report on the provisions and operation of the act. While the bill invokes the principle of substantive equality, it does not explicitly recognize a human right to safe drinking water. This omission is considered inconsistent with Canada's support for the right to safe drinking water as a human right at the United Nations.
The bill requires the federal government to use “best efforts” to produce the sufficient funding for water and waste-water services. However, this language is seen as providing a loophole that could allow the government to avoid ensuring that first nations have access to clean and safe drinking water. Implementing the bill's provision effectively requires a significant collaboration and coordination among federal, provincial and territorial first nation governments. The complexity of water governance and the need for integrative datasets and a shared decision-making mechanism pose challenges.
Although the bill requires decisions to be guided by free, prior and informed consent—which is central to this argument—it does not mandate that the decision-makers align their choices with the first principles of free, prior and informed consent. This needs to include more than the full recognition and meaningful implementation of FPIC, which many first nations see as essential.
The bill allows different minimum standards for different locations to address local circumstances. This provision could lead to lower standards for first nation communities compared to non-first nation communities. The bill aims to address long-standing issues of underfunding and regulatory gaps that have resulted in inadequate water infrastructure on first nations' land. These gaps have contributed to social and health disparities in first nations communities, so I suggest that a separate autonomous authority be the oversight of what's happening across the country, and none of that is in this bill.