The media portrayal of First Nations drinking water advisories under the modern Trudeau era

• Main Author: Ramlogan, Vijanti Valda
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: Indians of North America Water-supply; Drinking water Standards; Indigenous peoples Canada Water-supply; Indian reservations Canada Water-supply; Water quality management Canada; Drinking water Purification; Water quality Canada; Indigenous peoples and mass media Canada; Environmental responsibility Canada; Environmental reporting Canada; Racism in mass media; Racism in the press Canada; Indigenous peoples Canada Government relations; First nations; Canada; Indian; First Nations
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/102477

This research paper was completed and submitted at Nipissing University, and is made freely accessible through the University of Toronto’s TSpace repository During the run-up to the federal election in 2015, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau vowed to eliminate drinking water advisories in First Nations across Canada by 2021. A year later, with the Liberals holding a majority of seats in Parliament, the commitment was amended to eliminate all long-term boil water advisories on First Nations by 2021. In 2018, the federal Liberals expanded that commitment to include all public water systems on reserves such as schools and other community buildings. Canadian media outlets are following the progress by the Liberal government on these promises. A review of the content of these media reports provides an opportunity to explore the question: How are First Nations drinking water issues portrayed in the media and perceived by various actors? Data collection included reviewing the content of media stories starting in October 2015 until December 2018, beginning at the time the Liberal government was elected in the fall of 2015. These data are compared with an analysis of newspaper articles during the previous federal governments from 2000-2015. There are mixed opinions regarding whether there is a new path for ensuring safe water in First Nations communities. The splitting of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada into two separate departments – Indigenous Services Canada, and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada – is perceived by some to fall short of a new nation-to-nation relationship.Whereas others thought that dealing with one department on water issues would help First Nations get their water needs resolved. I characterized the opinions on the issues as being framed around three themes: water insecurity, capacity, and inequality, similar to previous research that examined media discourse analysis. However, this research suggests that there seems to be more of a negative portrayal of safe drinking water on reserves.