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

• 2. (1) The following definitions apply in this Act. « eau potable » means water intended for use by humans for drinking, bathing or food preparation. « système d’alimentation en eau potable » means a system for the collection, storage, treatment or distribution of drinking water, and includes a well. « première nation » means
  • (a) a band, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Indian Act , the disposition of whose lands is subject to that Act or the First Nations Land Management Act ;
  • (b) any other band, as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Indian Act , specified in regulations made under subsection (2); or
  • (a) lands the disposition of which is subject to the Indian Act or the First Nations Land Management Act ;
  • (b) in relation to a band specified in regulations made under subsection (2), the lands described in those regulations; or

  means the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

  means a body established by a provincial Act.

  means a minister of the Crown in right of a province, a person employed by a province or a person appointed to or employed by a provincial body.

  « système de traitement des eaux usées »

  means a system for the collection, treatment or disposal of waste water.

  Marginal note: Regulations

  Marginal note: Aboriginal rights

  3. For greater certainty, nothing in this Act or the regulations is to be construed so as to abrogate or derogate from any existing Aboriginal or treaty rights of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 , except to the extent necessary to ensure the safety of drinking water on First Nation lands.

  REGULATIONS

  Marginal note: Recommendation of Minister

  • 4. (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), the Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, make regulations governing the provision of drinking water on First Nation lands and the disposal of waste water on First Nation lands, including regulations respecting
    • (a) the training and certification of operators of drinking water systems and waste water systems;
    • (b) the protection of sources of drinking water from contamination;
    • (c) the location, design, construction, modification, maintenance, operation and decommissioning of drinking water systems;
    • (d) the distribution of drinking water by truck;
    • (e) the location, design, construction, modification, maintenance, operation and decommissioning of waste water systems;
    • (f) the collection and treatment of waste water;
    • (g) the monitoring, sampling and testing of waste water and the reporting of test results; and
    • (h) the handling, use and disposal of products of waste water treatment.

    Marginal note: Recommendation of Minister of Health

    Marginal note: Recommendation of Minister and Minister of Health

    • (a) the monitoring, sampling and testing of drinking water on First Nation lands and the reporting of test results;
    • (b) the making of remediation orders if standards established under subsection (2) have not been met; and
    • (c) emergency measures in response to the contamination of drinking water on First Nation lands.

    Marginal note: Included powers

    • 5. (1) Regulations made under section 4 may
      • (a) specify the classes of drinking water systems and waste water systems to which the regulations apply;
      • (b) confer on any person or body any legislative, administrative, judicial or other power that the Governor in Council considers necessary to effectively regulate drinking water systems and waste water systems;
      • (c) confer on any person or body the power, exercisable in specified circumstances and subject to specified conditions,
        • (i) to make orders to cease any work, comply with any provision of the regulations or remedy the consequences of a failure to comply with the regulations,
        • (ii) to do any work that the person or body considers necessary and to recover the costs of that work, or
        • (iii) to appoint a manager independent of the First Nation to operate a drinking water system or waste water system on its First Nation lands;

        Marginal note: Offences under provincial law

        Marginal note: Incorporation by reference

        Marginal note: Provincial variations

        Marginal note: Limitation

        • (a) the allocation of water supplies; or
        • (b) the issuance of permits for the use of water for any purpose other than the provision of drinking water.

        Marginal note: Agreements — Minister

        6. (1) The Minister may enter into an agreement for the administration and enforcement of regulations made under subsection 4(1) with any province, corporation or other body.

        Marginal note: Agreements — Minister of Health

        Marginal note: Agreements — both Ministers

        Marginal note: Conflict with First Nation laws

        7. Regulations made under this Act prevail over any laws or by-laws made by a First Nation to the extent of any conflict or inconsistency between them, unless those regulations provide otherwise.

        OTHER ACTS

        Marginal note: Statutory Instruments Act

        8. The Statutory Instruments Act does not apply to an instrument made by a provincial official or body under the authority of a provincial law incorporated by reference in the regulations.

        Marginal note: Federal Courts Act

        9. (1) A provincial official or body that exercises a power or performs a duty under the regulations is not a federal board, commission or other tribunal for the purposes of the Federal Courts Act .

        Marginal note: Review or appeal in provincial courts

        Marginal note: Moneys collected provincially

        10. Fees, charges, fines or other payments collected by a person or body pursuant to the regulations are not Indian moneys for the purposes of the Indian Act or public money for the purposes of the Financial Administration Act .

        LIMITS ON LIABILITY, DEFENCES AND IMMUNITIES

        Marginal note: Acts and omissions — federal minister or employee

        • 11. (1) In respect of any act or omission that occurs in a given province in the exercise of a power or the performance of a duty under the regulations by a minister of the Crown in right of Canada or an employee in the federal public administration, Her Majesty in right of Canada and the minister or employee are entitled, in addition to any limits on liability, defences and immunities under the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act , to
          • (a) in the case of Her Majesty in right of Canada, the same limits on liability, defences and immunities as those that would apply to Her Majesty in right of the province in the exercise of such a power or the performance of such a duty under the laws of the province; and
          • (b) in the case of the minister or employee, the same limits on liability, defences and immunities as those that would apply to a provincial official exercising such a power or performing such a duty under the laws of the province, unless otherwise provided by the regulations.

          Marginal note: Acts and omissions — provincial official or body

          • (a) Her Majesty in right of Canada is entitled to the same limits on liability, defences and immunities as those that would apply to Her Majesty in right of the province in the exercise of such a power or the performance of such a duty under the laws of the province; and
          • (b) the official or body is entitled to the same limits on liability, defences and immunities as those that would apply to a provincial official or body exercising such a power or performing such a duty under the laws of the province, unless otherwise provided by the regulations.

          Marginal note: Acts and omissions — other person or body

          • (a) no person has a right to receive any compensation, damages, indemnity or other relief from Her Majesty in right of Canada; and
          • (b) the person or body is entitled to the same limits on liability, defences and immunities as those that would apply to a person or body exercising such a power or performing such a duty under the laws of the province, unless otherwise provided by the regulations.

          Marginal note: Appropriations not subject to claims

          12. No payment may be made under an appropriation authorized by an Act of Parliament in order to satisfy any claim arising out of an act or omission referred to in subsection 11(3).

          Marginal note: Her Majesty saved

          13. No civil proceeding may be brought, no order may be made and no fine or monetary penalty may be imposed against Her Majesty in right of Canada under the regulations.

          COMING INTO FORCE

          Marginal note: Order in council

          15. The provisions of this Act come into force on a day or days to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.