The Squamish Nation in BC has approved a major industrial project to support the Woodfibre LNG natural gas pipeline. It has taken the Squamish Nation five years to complete the agreement.
The First Nations Major Projects Coalition is taking the lead on ventures to better control their economic futures. The first project the coalition is working on is the roughly $300-million Kenney Dam Water Release Facility.
Seymour River, located on the North Shore's Capilano reserve in Squamish Nation territory, keeps rising. The higher water levels are the result of the warming climate. Chris Lewis, a spokesperson for the Squamish Nation, is concerned about the salmon that spawn there.
The Ahousaht First Nation is currently in a local state of emergency over its water supply. A leak has caused the critical water shortage, and the reservoir is operating at 34% capacity. Residents of the remote First Nation have been advised to boil water.
The Semiahmoo First Nation in B.C. has been on a boil water advisory for the past 15 years. The First Nation has reached an agreement in which the City of Surrey will provide potable water and sewer services for the community.
Nestle Waters Canada had expressed opposition to the route of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion becasue the route cuts through a Nestlé water-bottling property in Hope, B.C.
The federal government has announced $1.2 million in funding for water infrastructure projects in eight Grand Council Treaty 3 communities. The funding will be used to end long-term water advisories in these communities by March 2021 and to prevent new advisories.
Water advocacy group, Keepers of the Water, staged an event in Edmonton to pledge their support to the court fight against the construction of the Site C dam in B.C. Representatives of the group are driving from Fort St.
Human Rights Watch has released a 92-page report (“Make It Safe: Canada’s Obligation to End the First Nations Water Crisis,”) detailing the extent to which First Nations communities do not have access to safe water.
A new law to protect and manage fresh water in B.C., four years in the making, still leaves the thorny question of pricing for a future date.