First of all, thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the honourable member for his question today. I appreciate that.
Definitely one of the biggest concerns we have with this agreement is that when it came to source water we would have to negotiate an agreement with the province or territory we were in. Our position here at the federation since our founding in 1948 has been that first nations have jurisdiction over their lands, resources, territory, etc. We feel that the legislation boxes us in, as we would have more of a policy- rather than a rights-driven position on water. That's one of the biggest concerns we have with it. We definitely have concerns around that wording in the legislation.
As I said earlier, in my opening statement, we are not against any type of federal water legislation. We just want to ensure that, number one, rights are respected, and number two, that it actually ends the boil water advisories and provides adequate resources and funding. This is why I raised the “best efforts” clause inside the legislation, because then successive governments will be allowed to give only their best efforts. That wording leaves it pretty wide open, and it doesn't really guarantee the success of governments. It's not just the current one that will be able to commit to the statutory funding that's required to adequately address the question of clean drinking water within first nations.
I hope that answers your question.