scholarly journals “We Don’t Drink the Water Here”: The Reproduction of Undrinkable Water for First Nations in Canada

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Warrick Baijius ◽  
Robert J. Patrick
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
First Nation ◽  
Governance Capacity ◽  
Water Problem ◽  
Source Water Protection ◽  
Current Water

First Nation communities in Canada are disproportionately plagued by undrinkable water and insufficient household sanitation. In addition, water resource management in First Nation communities has long been a technocratic and scientific mission controlled by state-led authorities. There has been limited engagement of First Nations in decision-making around water management and water governance. As such, problems associated with access to drinkable water and household sanitation are commonly positioned as hydrological or environmental problems (flood or drought) to be fixed by technical and engineering solutions. This apolitical reading has been criticized for not addressing the root cause of the First Nation water problem, but instead, of reproducing it. In this paper, an approach using political ecology will tease out key factors contributing to the current water problem in many First Nation communities. Using case study research set in source water protection planning, this paper explains how persistent colonial practices of the state continue to reproduce undrinkable water and insufficient household sanitation. Solutions to this ‘water problem’ require greater attention to First Nations water governance capacity and structures.

scholarly journals Ebbs and Flows of Authority: Decentralization, Development and the Hydrosocial Cycle in Lesotho

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassandra L. Workman
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Development Discourse ◽  
Management Responsibility ◽  
Government Provision

Dominant development discourse holds that water scarcity reflects geophysical limitations, lack of infrastructure or lack of government provision. However, this paper outlines the ways in which scarcity can only be fully explained in the context of development, specifically, neoliberal economic policies and related notions of good governance. Water is Lesotho’s primary natural resource, yet many of its inhabitants remain severely water insecure. Presently, decentralization and Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) are embraced in Lesotho as a philosophy and method to engage varied stakeholders and to empower community members. Using a water committee in Qalo, Lesotho as a case study, this paper explores the micro-politics of water governance. As individuals contest who is responsible for managing water resources for the village—by aligning themselves with traditional chiefs, elected officials, or neither—they transform or reinforce specific hydro-social configurations. While decentralized resource management aims to increase equity and local ownership over resources, as well as moderate the authority of traditional chiefs, water access is instead impacted by conflicts over management responsibility for water resources. Drawing on theories of political ecology and governmentality to extend recent scholarship on IWRM, this paper re-centers the political in water governance by situating local tensions within national policies and development agendas and demonstrating how scarcity is hydro-social.

scholarly journals Water Insecurity in Ontario First Nations: An Exploratory Study on Past Interventions and the Need for Indigenous Water Governance

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 717
Author(s):  
Rachel Arsenault
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
First Nation ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Security Challenges ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Indigenous Perspectives

In 2018, I began an exploratory study involving fourteen Ontario First Nation participants that examined some First Nation water security challenges and opportunities. In acknowledgment that many of the government assessments, reports, and investments to date have failed, this study aims to determine the causes of the water crisis as well as potential solutions by sharing Indigenous perspectives and recommendations on water governance and security. During the study, Indigenous participants were asked interview questions regarding their water and wastewater systems, their historical and current water security conditions, and if they had recommendations for achieving water security in First Nations. The analysis from these interviews demonstrated that there were ten different themes for water security and insecurity in First Nation communities as well as a set of four recommendations shared by the fourteen participants. The participant recommendations are: (1) that Traditional Knowledge (TK) and Indigenous laws be included in water security initiatives and water governance; (2) that provincial and federal governments work with Indigenous communities on their water security challenges and opportunities; (3) that First Nation leadership develops and implements community water protection plans; (4) that Indigenous communities establish an oversight committee or body for monitoring tourist ventures and extractive development projects such as mining on their territories. This paper will also discuss how an Indigenous research paradigm can be applied during the research process to ensure that the information is captured from the Indigenous perspectives of the participants.

scholarly journals Transferrable Principles to Revolutionize Drinking Water Governance in First Nation Communities in Canada

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3091
Author(s):  
Alison Irvine ◽  
Corinne Schuster-Wallace ◽  
Sarah Dickson-Anderson ◽  
Lalita Bharadwaj
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Holistic Health ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
First Nation ◽  
Community Capacity Building ◽  
Health Service Provision ◽  
Management Recommendations

There are analogous challenges when it comes to the management and provision of health services and drinking water in First Nations reserves in Canada; both represent human rights and both involve complex and multijurisdictional management. The purpose of this study is to translate the tenets of Jordan’s Principle, a child-first principle regarding health service provision, within the broader context of First Nation drinking water governance in order to identify avenues for positive change. This project involved secondary analysis of data from 53 semi-structured, key informant (KI) interviews across eight First Nation communities in western Canada. Data were coded according to the three principles of: provision of culturally inclusive management, safeguarding health, and substantive equity. Failure to incorporate Traditional Knowledge, water worldviews, and holistic health as well as challenges to technical management were identified as areas currently restricting successful drinking water management. Recommendations include improved infrastructure, increased resources (both financial and non-financial), in-community capacity building, and relationship building. To redress the inequities currently experienced by First Nations when it comes to management of and access to safe drinking water, equitable governance structures developed from the ground up and embedded in genuine relationships between First Nations and Canadian federal government agencies are required.

scholarly journals Indigenous Processes of Consent: Repoliticizing Water Governance through Legal Pluralism

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Curran
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Environmental Flows ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Governance Processes

While international instruments and a few state governments endorse the “free, prior and informed consent” of Indigenous peoples in decision-making about the water in their traditional territories, most state water governance regimes do not recognize Indigenous water rights and responsibilities. Applying a political ecology lens to the settler colonialism of water governance exposes the continued depoliticizing personality of natural resources decision-making and reveals water as an abstract, static resource in law and governance processes. Most plainly, these decision-making processes inadequately consider environmental flows or cumulative effects and are at odds with both Indigenous governance and social-ecological approaches to watershed management. Using the example of groundwater licensing in British Columbia, Canada as reinforcing colonialism in water governance, this article examines how First Nations are asserting Indigenous rights in response to natural resource decision-making. Both within and outside of colonial governance processes they are establishing administrative and governance structures that express their water laws and jurisdiction. These structures include the Syilx, Nadleh Wut’en and Stellat’en creating standards for water, the Tsleil-Waututh and Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc community assessments of proposed pipeline and mining facilities, and the First Nations of the Nicola Valley planning process based on their own legal traditions. Where provincial and federal environmental governance has failed, Indigenous communities are repoliticizing colonial decision-making processes to shift jurisdiction towards Indigenous processes that institutionalize responsibilities for and relationships with water.

scholarly journals Women, Water Resource Management, and Sustainable Development: The Turkey-North Cyprus Water Pipeline Project

Resources ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Emine Eminel Sülün
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Resource Management ◽  
Political Ecology ◽  
Water Resource ◽  
Water Resource Management ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
Resource Governance ◽  
North Cyprus ◽  
Pipeline Project ◽  
Water Pipeline

Women’s role in water resource management is recognized, yet the implementation of methods and strategies to get beyond gender-based obstacles to women’s equal participation in water resource management related projects remain vague. Mainstream considerations on the gender aspects of development and environment focus on women as having an intrinsic relationship with the environment. Women are perceived as a natural reflection of their responsibilities for the household and the comfort and security of future generations. Contrary to mainstream environmental and political ecology research, this paper sees gender as relevant within policy and practice across multiple levels, and within institutions related to natural resource governance. Based on this, the paper looks at the sustainable development and water governance issues with the help of a specific case: the Turkey-North Cyprus Water Pipeline Project. Through broad reviews of project documentation, interviews with people who were directly involved with the project and with women’s organizations the paper draws insights on the gender aspect of the decision-making mechanisms related to water governance. The results indicate that participation by women in resource management is marginal in North Cyprus. The paper discusses that this is a reflection of a broader problem, which is gender inequality. In conclusion, one can argue that future water projects need to realize more sustainable outcomes and greater effects on gender equality in North Cyprus.

scholarly journals The Community Housing Plan: The Role Of Capacity In Canadian On-Reserve Housing Policy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Harder
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Housing Policy ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
First Nation ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Governance Capacity ◽  
Housing Systems ◽  
First Nations People ◽  
Complex Housing

On-Reserve Housing Policy is failing First Nation communities across Canada as it appears unable to meet the complex housing needs of First Nations people, or effectively manage the operation of housing systems on reserve. This paper explores whether a relationship exists between the ability of First Nations to develop and implement a Community Housing Plan (CHP) and capacity development on-reserve. It does this by questioning whether on-reserve housing policy has created the appropriate administrative, financial and governance capacity to support the successful implementation of Community Housing Plans onreserve. The research uses qualitative methodology, reviewing literature and seven reports that explore Indigenous history in Canada and Canadian On-Reserve Housing Policy. The findings contemplate the wider implications of On-Reserve Housing Policy when First Nation capacity is not supported by the Federal Government, and the role of planning in the decolonization of Indigenous housing and policy.

scholarly journals The Community Housing Plan: The Role Of Capacity In Canadian On-Reserve Housing Policy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Harder
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Housing Policy ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
First Nation ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Governance Capacity ◽  
Housing Systems ◽  
First Nations People ◽  
Complex Housing

On-Reserve Housing Policy is failing First Nation communities across Canada as it appears unable to meet the complex housing needs of First Nations people, or effectively manage the operation of housing systems on reserve. This paper explores whether a relationship exists between the ability of First Nations to develop and implement a Community Housing Plan (CHP) and capacity development on-reserve. It does this by questioning whether on-reserve housing policy has created the appropriate administrative, financial and governance capacity to support the successful implementation of Community Housing Plans onreserve. The research uses qualitative methodology, reviewing literature and seven reports that explore Indigenous history in Canada and Canadian On-Reserve Housing Policy. The findings contemplate the wider implications of On-Reserve Housing Policy when First Nation capacity is not supported by the Federal Government, and the role of planning in the decolonization of Indigenous housing and policy.

scholarly journals Drinking Water Consumption Patterns: An Exploration of Risk Perception and Governance in Two First Nations Communities

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 6851
Author(s):  
Neal Spicer ◽  
Brenda Parlee ◽  
Molly Chisaakay ◽  
Doug Lamalice
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Bottled Water ◽  
Consumption Patterns ◽  
First Nation ◽  
Individual Risk

Many Indigenous communities across Canada suffer from the lack of access to clean drinking water; ensuring individuals and communities have safe water to drink either from their home or from their local environment requires the consideration of multiple factors including individual risk perception. In collaboration with local leaders, semi-structured interviews (n = 99) were conducted over a two-year period in the Dene Tha’ First Nation and Kátł’odeeche First Nation to unpack the issue of risk perception and its meaning to local community members. These local metrics of risk perception including smell, taste, safety, health fears and level of concern were then used to explore patterns in other data on drinking water consumption patterns and bottled water use. The results are consistent with previous research related to water insecurity and indicate that both communities consume more bottled water than the average Canadian. Results also varied by jurisdiction; those in Alberta indicated much higher levels of concern and a greater degree of bottled water consumption.

scholarly journals Policy Forum: Implementing the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation Property Tax System—Opportunities, Challenges, and Lessons Learned

2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 857-872
Author(s):  
Kate McCue ◽  
Bill McCue
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Property Tax ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
First Nation ◽  
Property Taxes ◽  
Tax System ◽  
Fiscal Management ◽  
Local Services ◽  
Policy Forum ◽  
Do So

In 2018, the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation (GIFN) implemented a First Nation property tax system under the First Nations Fiscal Management Act (FMA)—one of the earliest First Nations in Ontario to do so. Implementation of a property tax system gave GIFN an opportunity to improve funding for and expand local services, and provide a more equitable sharing of local service costs between cottagers leasing First Nation land and the First Nation. Key challenges encountered when implementing the property tax system were building consensus around the need for a tax system, building an appropriate administrative infrastructure, carrying out property assessments, and professionals lacking knowledge of First Nation property tax. These challenges, however, presented opportunities to create a knowledge base around property taxation within GIFN, among cottage leaseholders, and in the wider community. Key lessons learned were (1) start as soon as possible; (2) First Nations Tax Commission support and standards are important; (3) staff training is important; (4) communicate early and often; (5) hold open houses; (6) local services are more than garbage collection; (7) property taxes do not harm lease rates or cottage sales; (8) educate lawyers, real estate agents, and other professionals; (9) startup costs were significant; (10) coordinate laws and standards with provincial variations; (11) modernize systems; and (12) utilize other parts of the FMA.

scholarly journals Cardiovascular risk according to plasma apolipoprotein and lipid profiles in a Canadian First Nation

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
ND Riediger ◽  
SG Bruce ◽  
TK Young
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Risk ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Cardiovascular Disease Risk ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Density Lipoprotein ◽  
Lipid Profiles ◽  
Apolipoprotein A1 ◽  
First Nation ◽  
Future Research

Introduction Despite high diabetes rates among Canadian First Nations people, little is known about their cardiovascular disease risk. Our aim was to describe the apolipoprotein profile with respect to cardiovascular risk in a Canadian First Nation community. Methods In 2003, a representative sample of adult members of a Manitoba First Nation (N = 483) participated in a screening study for diabetes and diabetes complications. We assessed their cardiovascular risk factors. Results Sixty percent of women were at increased cardiovascular risk because of low apolipoprotein A1 (apoA1) levels, compared with 35% of men. The proportion of women with low apoA1 levels decreased with age, but the proportion with low high-density lipoprotein levels remained stable across age groups. Both apoB and apoA1 were significantly associated with obesity when age, sex, diastolic blood pressure, homocysteine, diabetes, and insulin resistance were controlled for. Conclusion Apolipoprotein and lipid profiles in this First Nation population suggest high cardiovascular risk. Future research should characterize the lipoprotein particle size in this population.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document