Petition e-7593 - Petitions
www.ourcommons.ca

Whereas:

  • The Government of Canada is legally obligated under the 2021 Safe Drinking Water for First Nations class action settlement agreement to introduce legislation that upholds First Nations’ equal right to clean, safe drinking water;

  • The Liberal government’s Bill C-37, the First Nations Clean Water Act, falls significantly short of this legal obligation, failing to recognize the human right of all First Nations individuals to clean drinking water;

  • Bill C-37 limits First Nations’ jurisdiction and authority over water to RESERVE LANDS ONLY, excluding lands over which Aboriginal title is claimed by a First Nation, or has been confirmed by a court;

  • The Liberals have excluded Article 25 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples from Bill C-37 to bypass First Nations’ rights in Modern Treaties and in traditional lands and territories; and

  • Just like in Bill C-5, Bill C-37 is part of a broader trend of the Carney Liberal government repeatedly violating Indigenous Constitutional and Treaty rights and ignoring their duty to consult and obtain the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous Peoples.

We, the undersigned, residents of Canada and First Nations, call upon the Government of Canada to amend Bill C-37 to recognize the human right of all First Nations individuals to clean drinking water, to be compliant with ALL articles of UNDRIP, and to commit sufficient funding to ensure the right to clean water is upheld in practice.

Open for signature  
  August 10, 2026, at 3:07 p.m. (EDT)  
Closed for signature  
  December 8, 2026, at 3:07 p.m. (EDT)

  • NGram@piefed.caEnglish
    3·
    14 days ago

    Right to clean drinking water shouldn’t translate as the government needing to spend a bunch of money to build infrastructure for a really remote group of a tiny number of people

    Ok, so then it’s not a right. Just another meaningless promise to First Nations. Governments are very good at breaking those.

    Especially if the people in that remote community are A) hostile to Canada as a nation, and B) not producing millions of dollars in tax revenue.

    Nice to know that you only value people for their economic output. Maybe try some empathy on the people the government has institutionally discriminated against for centuries.

    many of the FN weren’t friends, in fact many of the west coast tribes routinely practiced slavery, raiding each others tribes for women etc (estimates are that about 25% of most west coast bands, were slaves).

    If you’re going to hold FN history against them, then you must balance it against Canada’s history too. Colonists showed up, stole their land, told them what to do, declared independence, and then gave them back a sliver of their land to live on. On top of that, Canada didn’t do much when the USA had slaves.

    Today, what is the portion of FN that have slaves? (hint: it’s 0%)

    To pretend that “shared exclusivity” between such bands, bands which weren’t exactly working together, should give them any elevated privilege over general ‘public’ lands, is bonkers

    Is it bonkers to believe that the original owners of land that was never ceded to the “public” should have some control over that land? Why does disagreement or lack of cooperation give another group any authority? That just sounds like fascism.

    the concept of ‘shared exclusivity’ is one that the Canadian court systems decreed should be a thing, not something the Canadian public supported

    That makes no sense. The Canadian courts enforce and interpret laws decreed by the government’s legislature which has the mandate of the public (see: democracy). The courts don’t make the rules and if their interpretation isn’t publicly supported (or just incorrect) the legislature would pass a new law to correct it.

    And lastly, all the modern treaty stuff just feels like its overly one sided and not benefiting the general public good

    Why does it need to benefit the general public good? It’s about benefiting the people the government has artificially disadvantaged since its inception. It’s called reconciliation for a reason.

    it can’t help but evoke images of white people creating legislation that gives white people explicit benefits

    You say this like FN have some Canadian equivalent of white privilege. If that were the case, then Indigenous overrepresentation in crime (as victims & offenders) wouldn’t be the case.