I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here today.

I'll be providing comments on behalf of the Atlantic First Nations Water Authority, which I'll be referring to as the AFNWA for the remainder of my time.

The AFNWA is a first-of-its-kind, full-service water and waste-water utility that is owned and operated by its participating first nations. Currently, we provide service to 13 nations in Atlantic Canada.

The AFNWA is a not-for-profit organization led by its participating first nations, with the board comprising primarily first nation chiefs, who have carefully developed incorporation documents, governance manuals and bylaws to guide their decision-making. The AFNWA board of directors is supported and informed by our elders advisory lodge. The elders provide guidance on first nation values, cultures and knowledge, and offer advice to the board to ensure that the AFNWA is not solely a copy of a western utility model.

The foundation of AFNWA's success to date is, in large part, due to its alignment and connection of funding to treatment, monitoring and operation standards through an indigenous-informed governance framework.

The legislation being studied by the standing committee is central to the sustainability of the AFNWA and embodies many of the tenets that have been central to our progress, such as a commitment to a funding framework that is based on actual costs of operations and maintenance and is responsive to projected infrastructure needs. These themes are also embedded in the AFNWA's 10-year business plan, which was developed and approved by the AFNWA board in 2022 with the vision of strengthening programs and approaches to service delivery in the spirit of self-determination and reconciliation.

It is in this context that the AFNWA supports many elements of this legislation. However, there are key aspects of the legislation that could be improved, and I'd like to take the remaining time to outline some of these opportunities.

First nations water quality is currently unregulated. However, Bill C-61 allows for first nations to create their own regulations for water and waste-water quality, which, at a minimum, must align with the guidelines for Canadian drinking water quality and either the waste-water system effluent regulations or provincial standards. It's the AFNWA's opinion that future waste-water regulations must also consider environmental risk assessments to the receiving water body.

The AFNWA supports water and waste-water regulations, as a regulatory framework supports operational and design conditions for the AFNWA. However, regulations developed under Bill C-61 must be met with adequate funding. Subclause 27(5) states that the minister “must make best efforts” to begin consultations on a funding framework within six months of the section coming into force. This is encouraging. However, while there is a mandate to start the work, there is no required deadline to finish it. Communities would be well served if there was a commitment to finalize the funding framework in partnership with first nations within two years of the legislation achieving royal assent.

Further to funding, if a first nation creates standards above the guidelines for Canadian drinking water quality or waste-water system effluent regulations, the funding framework must also provide adequate funding to design, install, operate, maintain and monitor the infrastructure required to meet those standards. Perhaps most importantly, paragraph 27(2)(d) identifies “enforcement” as an element to be considered in the funding framework.

Because there is no precedent for enforcing regulations regarding water services in first nations and clause 24 enables the minister or a provincial, territorial or municipal government or any public body acting under the authority of the first nation to enforce first nations laws—or preferably, a first nations-designed and -led enforcement body—it is unclear what the actual cost of enforcement will be. Laws without oversight are protocols. As we see in the present circumstance, protocols alone are insufficient.

Further to regulations, we understand that they will only be as effective as the trained professionals who work to adhere to them. As the only first nations water utility in Canada, I want to state that additional equitable and culturally appropriate opportunities for first nations personnel in the water sector are needed. Furthermore, funding support for first nations youth and water professionals is essential to fully realize water regulations in Bill C-61.

Lastly, we are encouraged to note that any standards developed will apply to both individual or decentralized systems and public or centralized water and waste-water systems. That said, decentralized drinking water systems, including individual wells and truck-to-cistern systems, are often not monitored for bacteriological or chemical safety, resulting in a poor understanding of water quality.

Decentralized waste-water systems, like water systems, receive little to no federal funding for the actual cost of operations, maintenance or replacement. This can leave aging and failing septic systems to release untreated or undertreated waste water to the environment. Where necessary, the act should explicitly mention and address the very significant challenges associated with decentralized systems and how to safeguard these systems from failure, inclusive of funding.

Bill C-61, if constructed well, would help expand the AFNWA's mission to include both centralized and decentralized systems in order to provide holistic water services to our member first nations, thereby reducing the service gap often experienced by communities.

I would like to close by thanking the committee for their invitation to appear here today. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.