SUMMARY

This enactment addresses health and safety issues on reserve lands and certain other lands by providing for regulations to govern drinking water and waste water treatment in First Nations communities. Regulations could be made on a province-by-province basis to mirror existing provincial regulatory regimes, with adaptations to address the circumstances of First Nations living on those lands.

Preamble

Whereas it is important for residents of First Nation lands to have access to safe drinking water;

Whereas effective regulatory regimes are required to ensure such access;

Whereas the Government of Canada is committed to improving the health and safety of residents of First Nation lands;

And whereas the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the Minister of Health have committed to working with First Nations to develop proposals for regulations to be made under this Act;

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

Marginal note: Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Safe Drinking Water for First Nations Act .

INTERPRETATION

Marginal note: Definitions