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

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 Jor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water
Main Authors: Alison Irvine, Corinne Schuster-Wallace, Sarah Dickson-Anderson, Lalita Bharadwaj
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020
Subjects:
drinking water
First Nations
drinking water management
Jordan’s Principle
equity
culturally appropriate services
Hydraulic engineering
TC1-978
Water supply for domestic and industrial purposes
TD201-500
Canada
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/w12113091
https://doaj.org/article/d13a781885b54bc980fedf91ce8a90cc
Description
Summary: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.

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