Weaselhead appears at Senate hearing

Treaty 7 Grand Chief Charles Weaselhead appeared as a witness at the Senate Standing Committee on Aboriginal Peoples on May 29 to voice conditional support of Bill S-8, an act respecting the safety of drinking water on First Nation lands. Weaselhead told the senators that after decades of neglecting critical issues, “it is promising to see a federal government finally taking real steps to address this national embarrassment.” Senators heard that Bill S-8 is flawed because there is no guarantee First Nations communities can meet the provision in the bill due to a lack of adequate resources from the federal government, and First Nations communities do not have the capacity or necessary resources to efficiently and effectively manage water systems. Additionally, witnesses have expressed that the language of the bill relegates First Nations laws to a secondary position by giving authority to all provincial water laws. “It is time the Crown follows through on its commitment to move forward, to begin establishing the relationships critical to rebuilding our nations,” said Weaselhead. He added that the new law is not perfect, but an important starting point that promises to lead to other measures that are necessary to ensure the safety of First Nations drinking water.