“Clean water, broken promises” is a collaborative investigation into obstacles First Nations are encountering during the Trudeau government’s push to ensure communities are able to deliver clean drinking water to residents. We will be releasing our articles and broadcasts from this series over the coming weeks.
When Ed Morrison needs government approval for a project in Mitaanjigamiing First Nation, he has a strategy to ensure public servants take his proposal seriously.
Get top stories in your inbox.
Our award-winning journalists bring you the news that impacts you, Canada, and the world. Don t miss out.
Email
“I can tell them exactly what needs to be done and how to do it, . but they don t listen,” Morrison said in an interview. “But the minute I go and hire a white man and pay him to say the same damn thing, then ‘Here you go . we’re going to fund this.’
It’s widely understood that rivers, wetlands and other waterways hold particular significance for First Nations people. It’s less well understood that Indigenous peoples are denied effective rights in Australia’s water economy.
Australia’s laws and policies prevent First Nations from fully participating in, and benefiting from, decisions about water. In fact, Indigenous peoples hold less than 1 per cent of Australia’s water rights.
A Productivity Commission report into national water policy released last week acknowledged the demands of First Nations, noting “Traditional Owners aspire to much greater access to, and control over, water resources”.
The commission suggested a suite of policy reforms. While the recommendations go further than previous official reports, they show a lack of ambition and would ensure water justice continues to be denied to First Nations.
A COVID-19 vaccination pop-up site is now open in Winnipeg to immunize health-care workers employed in Manitoba First Nations communities as well as Indigenous traditional healers and knowledge keepers.
Anti-Indigenous racism embedded in provincial healthcare system: review myprincegeorgenow.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from myprincegeorgenow.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.