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Latest news about the Safe Drinking Water Team
Line 5 transports crude oil through the heart of the Great Lakes, an invaluable cultural resource for residents and visitors to the region who benefit from the connection with the water and the land. The pipeline has already leaked 29 times, spilling over 4.5 million litres of oil and putting 84 percent of North America’s surface freshwater at risk. And yet, Canada continues to prioritize the ongoing operation of the pipeline over this critical global freshwater system.
A global movement to grant rivers legal personhood recently reached Canada, and a local Indigenous leader is asking whether the Gatineau River could be next. Former Kitigan Zibi Anishinābeg chief Gilbert Whiteduck said such legal designation would provide the Gatineau River better environmental protection, and he's "pushing" to make it a reality. The movement, which is largely led by Indigenous communities, environmental groups and scientists, is designed to afford rivers and other ecological features stronger legal protections by granting them rights normally reserved for people.
And yet these same grasslands support so much life. They help feed us, by nurturing pollinators and grazing mammals. They quench our thirst, filtering our communities’ drinking water with their roots. And they protect us, storing vast amounts of carbon and retaining water during spring melts and summer droughts. Our well-being is intimately tied to the health of the natural world around us. And we’re at a point now where nature’s health is ailing.
First Nations, scientists and climate change experts are sharing how the Yukon's landscape — shaped by permafrost — is thawing and what that means for adaptation, land use, industry and wildlife. The issue is the main theme of the North Yukon Permafrost Conference, a collaboration between the Tr'ondëk Hwëchin and Vuntut Gwitchin governments, the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun and the Canadian Permafrost Association. The conference runs all week. The permafrost shift is especially noticeable in Dawson City, said Jackie Olson, a Tr'ondëk Hwëchin citizen who has lived in the community her whole life.
A Canada-wide Indigenous water initiative is providing young people with an opportunity to tackle water problems in their communities. According to Kimberly Brown, a Tsimshian water engineer in training and a member of the Lax Kw’alaams Band in British Columbia, the goal of the challenge is ” to create Indigenous youth who want to become water engineers or scientists…” “It’s just the opportunity for eight communities to participate and solve their own water issues, and it’s judged by their own communities not sure, so it’s very Indigenous-led and Indigenous supported.”
Tomorrow is World Water Day, and RESEAU Centre for Mobilizing Innovation is marking the occasion by challenging Indigenous youth to solve drinking water problems in their community with the support of scientists and innovators. The Indigenous Youth Potable Water Innovation Challenge 2022 is a pilot program designed to foster innovative spirit in water-health. Working in teams, Indigenous youth in grades K-12 will engage Elders and community leaders and operators to identify local water challenges, barriers to solving them and potential solutions. With innovative educational tools and mentorship from scientists, engineers and experts from the water industry and universities, the teams will develop a solution to solve the most pressing local challenge. Then, they’ll workshop their idea with entrepreneurs before presenting it to their community.
The federal government seeks feedback on whether the objectives outlined in the Discussion Paper are the right objectives for the government to pursue and input on which objectives should be prioritized. Input is sought from provinces, territories, Indigenous peoples, local authorities, the private sector, non-government organizations, and the public. Feedback will inform the federal government's next steps in implementing the CWA. The deadline for providing feedback on the Discussion Paper is March 1, 2021. Information about where to send responses is provided in the Discussion Paper. In January 2021, the federal government will host a virtual national freshwater policy forum. A series of regional forums will be held in February 2021 to provide further opportunities for Canadians to participate in consultations on the Discussion Paper.
Dene National Chief Norman Yakeleya said that the issue of water safety, especially flowing from the oil sands, has been a concern for as long as he has been Chief. In a tele-press conference Yakeleya told media that he is “befuddled as to why an essential service, such as monitoring the quality of the water coming from the oil sands production fields, was suspended.” He said that water is essential for drinking, for fish, for the animals, and “for the sake of all people in the Northwest Territories.”
