Environmental Injustice In First Nations

Canadians enjoy many basic rights that those in developing nations would consider a privilege. A healthy living environment, with access to safe and clean food and water resources, is something that Canadians are generally guaranteed. Most of the nation’s citizens have never felt an injustice being committed against them with regards to unequal safe resource distribution. However, environmental injustice does in fact exist in Canada, and is most visible among the country’s First Nations populations. Environmental injustice is one example of how indigenous communities have been treated in an unacceptable manner by the Canadian government for many years. One notable aspect of this injustice is the unequal access to safe and clean water within
This form of environmental governance allows no autonomy for First Nations people to control their own resources. The routine water advisories in indigenous regions are an indication of the government’s systemic failure to provide safe and clean water to these communities. In addition, the federal government’s Water Policy is over 30 years old, and holds no national strategy in place to deal with urgent water issues (Lui, 2015). The government’s position on the regulation of water in the region is that while they provide funding, the First Nations communities are responsible for the delivery of proper water systems (White, Murphy & Spence, 2012). The response by the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), Canada’s largest organizational body representing First Nations communities, is that there is a deeper problem of a lack of adequate financial resources, as well as the absence of training and management development to oversee the regions’ infrastructures. The AFN believes that water should be under the control and the jurisdiction of their own communities, which mirrors the sentiment of the entire aboriginal community. First Nations people believe that they hold no stake in decisions regarding water infrastructure investments, and are not made aware of reports outlining the state of water in the region (White, Murphy & Spence 2012). Indigenous leaders have stated the need for proper equipment and training in water treatment plants, and feel as though their requests are going unheeded (Mascarenhas, 2007). These leaders feel as though bureaucracy and budget cuts are hindering the First Nations people from controlling the mechanisms that would ensure safe water conditions. Ontario has reduced its monitoring and reporting regulatory requirements for the water industry, and as a result, local ministries are not able to