Decolonising Canadian water governance: lessons from Indigenous case studies

• Published in: UCL Open Environment
• Main Author: Corey McKibbin
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: UCL Press 2023
• Subjects: Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering; TD1-1066; Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Canada; First Nations; inuit
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.14324/111.444/ucloe.000060; https://doaj.org/article/ee08896c0e5741f2bd019f41c8b45ca4

Meaningful lessons about decolonising water infrastructure (social, economic and political) can be learned if we scrutinise existing governance principles such as the ones provided by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2021’s Principles on Water Governance. Instead of using only Western frameworks to think about policy within Indigenous spheres of water, sanitation and hygiene, the Government of Canada can look to Indigenous ways of knowing to complement their understanding of how to govern areas of water, sanitation and hygiene efficiently. In this paper, the term Indigenous encompasses First Nations, Inuit and Métis populations. This paper is presented as a step out of many towards decolonising water governance in Canada, and is intended to show that it is necessary to make space for other voices in water governance. By highlighting the dangers in the case studies, three lessons are apparent: (1) there needs to be an addition of Indigenous Two-Eyed Seeing in water governance; (2) Canada must strengthen its nation-to-nation praxis with Indigenous communities; and (3) there needs to be a creation of space in water, sanitation and hygiene that fosters Indigenous voices. This is necessary such that there can be equal participation in policy conversations to mitigate existing problems and explore new possibilities.