Liberal government tables First Nations drinking water legislation

A fast-growing wildfire forced an evacuation of the Mattagami First Nations; many were transported to Barrie by bus, others drove.

OTTAWA — New legislation tabled by the government on Tuesday will create a legislative framework to protect drinking water in First Nations communities, Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty said.

But one chief who helped draft a previous version of the legislation warns that the bill’s vague language on First Nations’ right to clean drinking water will only leave communities worse off.

Gull-Masty told reporters on Parliament Hill that Bill C-37, tabled in the House of Commons on Tuesday, will “advance the critical work of addressing long-term drinking water advisories” and recognize First Nations jurisdiction over water on their lands.

She said the new bill is backed by $4.6 billion in funding over five years, describing the sum as the single largest commitment ever made to First Nations water protection.

This isn’t the first time the federal Liberals have put forward clean water legislation -- but it is the first attempt by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government to tackle the issue.

C-37 states that the federal government will “further the progressive realization, for individuals on First Nation lands, of the human right to safe drinking water, as protected by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.”

The previous bill introduced by the Trudeau Liberals, C-61, affirmed the “human right of every individual on First Nations land to have access to clean and safe drinking water in accordance with this Act.”

Progressive realization is a legal term used by the United Nations which means the federal government will work toward the realization of that right.

Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige, who helped draft the previous version of the bill, said First Nations communities have had enough of “progressive realization” and simply want the federal government to recognize they have a right to clean water.

“I’m absolutely concerned with that language in that bill,” she said Tuesday, adding that First Nations already have a human right to clean water.

Lawyer Michael Rosenberg, whose successful efforts to sue the federal government on behalf of some 260 First Nations led to the new water bill, told The Canadian Press the changes to the bill’s wording on human rights amount to “legal gymnastics.”

“The federal government has turned a clear recognition of a right to safe drinking water on reserve into an aspirational policy that carries little accountability,” Rosenberg said.

“This change appears to be a direct response to the fact that the federal government is still in court fighting First Nations to deny the right to safe drinking water on reserve.”

Provincial governments in Alberta and Ontario opposed the previous legislation, saying it would dampen the speed of major projects development at a time when Carney is looking to build faster.

Gull-Masty brushed off questions about if her government was capitulating to those governments by changing the wording, saying the change is meant to give time for First Nations to improve their water systems and ensure it will hold up if challenged in the courts.

Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler said the legislation offers a “strong starting point” for addressing the problem. The nations he represents currently have 16 long-term and eight short-term drinking water advisories.

“I have heard many governments over my years promise to make the necessary investments, but we remain in the same position. The legislation introduced today is not perfect but it addresses the most immediate needs of our communities,” Fiddler said in a media statement.

“It sets minimum standards for drinking water and affirms the inherent right of First Nations to hold jurisdiction in relation to water and wastewater.”

Fiddler said he still worries the legislation “may not adequately address the true costs of ending the water crisis on reserve.”

NDP Indigenous affairs critic Leah Gazan attacked the wording of the bill, calling it weaker than previous attempts by the Liberals to ensure clean and safe drinking water on reserves.

“In 2015, when the Liberal government was elected, they promised to end all water boil advisories. It is now 2026 and, in addition to not fulfilling that promise, they have now confirmed that they do not even recognize clean drinking water as a human right for First Nations,” Gazan said in a media statement.

Gull-Masty said the new bill was written to “stand the test of time.”

The now-defunct C-61, introduced in 2023 by the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, died when Parliament was prorogued last year.

Patty Hajdu, Trudeau’s Indigenous services minister, introduced the 2023 bill in response to the lawsuit against the government that was settled in 2021.

The text of that bill went beyond the terms of the settlement. It included an option for source water protection and recognition that First Nations have a human right to clean drinking water.

The Trudeau-era bill was drafted with input from First Nations and nearly became law after weeks of study and debate before it died on the order paper.

In January 2025 -- months before the last federal election -- Hajdu said she hoped whoever is “in government next time picks this up” and called C-61 “incredibly thoughtful legislation that was co-drafted with First Nations people.”

Gull-Masty promised last summer that the new bill would affirm First Nations’ human right to clean drinking water. She initially promised to introduce the legislation in the fall but failed to do so.

Some First Nations leaders, including Debassige, said they were not consulted on the new legislation.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak told The Canadian Press she wants MPs on the Indigenous and northern affairs committee, who will eventually study the legislation, to take trips to First Nations communities to see what they deal with day-to-day instead of debating changes to the bill from their desks in Ottawa.

“As we speak, First Nations communities, some of them are evacuated and displaced because of water,” she said in an interview.

“So when we see red flags and things missing from this bill that can help address these issues, we get concerned.”

The House of Commons is expected to rise by the end of this week for the summer break, which means the legislation likely won’t be debated or voted on until the fall.

Conservative MP Billy Morin, who serves as his party’s critic of Indigenous Services, said his party believes First Nations have a right to clean drinking water.

He chided the government for failing to live up to a 2015 promise to end all boil-water advisories on reserve by 2021. Indigenous Services Canada data shows 36 are still in place, most of them in Ontario.

“They never keep their word and their promises,” the former chief of Enoch Cree Nation said outside the House of Commons Tuesday.

“We will absolutely talk with the government when it comes to moving forward on this legislation, but I’m also curious to hear from the communities that (the Liberals) say were consulted because all I hear from communities is that this water legislation isn’t up to par at this time.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15, 2026.

-- With files from Kyle Duggan