Chief criticizes Conservatives for playing politics with clean water by blocking bill

A prominent Saskatchewan First Nation Chief has accused Conservative House leader Andrew Scheer of using legislation to recognize the right to safe drinking water as a political "tactic."

Cowessess First Nation Chief Erica Beaudin says she is disappointed by what transpired in the House of Commons on Thursday.

Government legislation, Bill C-61, recognizes that First Nations have an inherent right to clean drinking water and commits the government to provide adequate and sustainable funding for water services in First Nations.

Due to the ongoing gridlock in Parliament, Liberal MP Jaime Battiste, who is Mi'kmaq from Eskasoni First Nation, asked for unanimous consent from MPs to send the bill to Senate Thursday. But several Conservative MPs said no.

Scheer, whose riding includes Cowessess, rose immediately afterward with a similar motion, but included language that also condemned the Liberal government for inaction. That was also defeated, which meant the bill did not proceed to the Senate.

While Cowessess is not under a boil water advisory, Beaudin says people in her community rely on bottled water because they don't trust what comes from their taps.

"I'm very disappointed that he used clean drinking water as a tactic in this House in order to say, 'If you do this, then we will do this,' where there's real lives that are being affected," Beaudin told reporters at a news conference.

"We're not talking about toys, we're not talking about items that are not essential, but water is essential and you either believe in clean drinking water for everybody or you don't. And if you do, you do everything you possibly can to work towards that happening."

Beaudin added that she knows Scheer to be "very genuine" in representing the people of his riding and urged him to get the Conservative party to co-operate to get the legislation passed.

According to government data, there are 31 long-term boil water advisories on First Nations across the country, and 36 short-term advisories.

The situation in the House became heated when Battiste entered the aisle holding a glass of water. Battiste later said he considered throwing it at the Conservative benches after his motion was defeated.

"This is about protecting water. In Nova Scotia, they poisoned our water in the Pictou Landing community for generations, if not decades. I had the chief in the audience with some of her councillors, and I feel like I let them down," said a visibly upset Battiste.

Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu blasted the Conservative party's record on ensuring there is clean water on First Nations, and accused the party of ignoring First Nations leadership.

"So it's a bit rich for them to use that moment to exploit First Nations people and their need for water to play politics in the House. It's appalling," Hajdu said.

In a statement, Scheer said the Liberals "shamefully" shut down his motion because they would like to avoid "proper debate" on Bill C-61.

"Liberal MPs should be outraged with themselves. They could properly debate this legislation today if they stopped their cover up of their $400 million green slush fund scandal by providing the documents to the RCMP as ordered by Parliament," Scheer said.

Since Bill C-61 was introduced nearly a year ago it has been subject to debate in the House of Commons, studied at committee and had amendments tacked on.

Hajdu and Battiste were flanked by several chiefs, including Beaudin, and other First Nations representatives in a press conference following the vote. Originally, they had planned to speak about the bill moving on to the Senate.

The Assembly of First Nations held a special chiefs assembly in Ottawa this week, and on Tuesday the AFN executive endorsed a resolution to continue advocating for the approval of water legislation.

The bill is stalled at third reading in the House of Commons because of an ongoing privilege debate that has taken precedence over nearly all other business since late September.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2024.

With files from Alessia Passafiume