scholarly journals Water and Indigenous Peoples: Canada’s Paradox

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry P. White ◽  
Laura Murphy ◽  
Nicholas Spence
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Federal Jurisdiction ◽  
The Government ◽  
Government Of Canada

The condition of water safety and quality on reserve has been a growing concern in Canada. Despite a substantial amount of funding allocated toward improving water infrastructure on reserve, an alarming proportion of communities face boil and drinking water advisories. To understand why this paradox and problem persists, this article will work through the issues and nuances that have created unsafe drinking water on reserve, proposed remedies, and policy implications. To do so, the role of the Government of Canada is reviewed first because reserve land is under federal jurisdiction. Following this, the article will discuss the standpoints of the Assembly of First Nations and other Indigenous groups on the water crisis, and will draw upon focus groups within First Nations that we conducted. To contextualize the water issue on reserve in Canada, a comparison with the United States is then drawn. One of the main themes of this paper with regard to the issue of safe drinking water on reserve is how the legacy of colonization has limited community capacity. This theme is then discussed in depth by comparing Indigenous to non-Indigenous communities, looking to the social determinants of water quality, and possibilities and limitations of building sustainable development allowing for safe drinking water on reserve. To understand what processes consistently intervene in the way of sustainability of safe water in Indigenous communities, regulatory frameworks are examined, funding mechanisms are reviewed, and Aboriginal governance is discussed along with the direction that policy should take.

scholarly journals Household attitudes and knowledge on drinking water enhance water hazards in peri-urban communities in Western Kenya

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimongu J. Kioko ◽  
John F. Obiri
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Drinking Water Source ◽  
Waterborne Diseases ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Solid Waste Disposal ◽  
Western Kenya ◽  
Attitudes And Practices ◽  
The Government ◽  
And Storage

Ensuring safe drinking water remains a big challenge in developing countries where waterborne diseases cause havoc in many communities. A major challenge is limited knowledge, misinformation and attitudes that work against ensuring that drinking water is safe. This study investigated the knowledge, attitudes and practices of peri-urban households in Kakamega Town of Western Kenya, concerning the collection, treatment and storage of drinking water. Alongside this we examined the role of solid waste disposal in water safety. Three hundred and seventy eight households from four residential regions of varying economic levels were randomly sampled in Kakamega Town. Data was collected via questionnaire interviews that incorporated attitude questions based on a Likert scale of 1−5, and administered to the households and key informants. The results showed most respondents were knowledgeable about ideal methods of water collection, treatment and storage. However, they did not practise them appropriately. Some attitudes among the respondents worked against the ideals of achieving safe drinking water. For instance, many households perceived their drinking water source as safe and did not treat it, even when obtained from open sources like rivers. Further, they preferred to store drinking water in clay pots, because the pots kept the water cold, rather than use the narrow-necked containers that limit exposure to contaminants. Also, hand washing with soap was not practised enough in their daily lives to avoid contact with waterborne hazards. We recommend that the government undertake training programmes on drinking water safety that advocate appropriate water use, hygiene and sanitation strategies.

scholarly journals Drinking water and health research: a look to the future in the United States and globally

2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (S1) ◽  
pp. 17-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark D. Sobsey
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
The United States ◽  
World Health ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Household Water Treatment ◽  
Water Research ◽  
Safe Water ◽  
Drinking Water Safety ◽  
Key Issues

Drinking water supplies continue to be a major source of human disease and death globally because many of them remain unsafe and vulnerable. Greater efforts are needed to address the key issues and questions which influence the provision of safe drinking water. Efforts are needed to re-evaluate and set new and better priorities for drinking water research and practice. More stakeholders need to be included in the processes of identifying key issues and setting priorities for safe drinking water. The overall approach to drinking water research and the provision of safe drinking water needs to become more rational and scientific, and become more visionary and anticipatory of the ever-present and emerging risks to drinking water safety. Collectively, we need to do a better job of making safe water available, accessible and affordable for all. One such approach to safe water for all is household water treatment and safe storage, which is being promoted globally by the World Health Organization and many other stakeholders and partners to reduce the global burden of waterborne disease.

scholarly journals Knowledge Pluralism in First Nations’ Salmon Management

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia A. Bingham ◽  
Saul Milne ◽  
Grant Murray ◽  
Terry Dorward
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Coho Salmon ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Resource Governance ◽  
Natural Resource Governance ◽  
Colonial Legacies ◽  
The Government ◽  
Government Of Canada

There is growing interest in the “integration” of knowledge and values held by Indigenous peoples with Western science into natural resource governance and management. However, poorly conducted integration efforts can risk harming Indigenous communities and reifying colonial legacies. In this regard, dichotomous conceptualizations of Indigenous and scientific knowledges are problematic. In this research, we focus on the role of indigenous and scientific knowledges in the management of coho salmon (Oncorhyncus kisutch) on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia (BC) in a governance context featuring contested authority among First Nations (Indigenous peoples) and the government of Canada. We discuss an example from a particular Indigenous community, Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations (TFN), that has worked with other management bodies to establish practices for the restoration, enhancement and harvest of cuẃit (coho). After outlining relevant Tla-o-qui-aht values, knowledges and decision-making processes, we consider the pluralistic approach to Indigenous and scientific knowledges in Tla-o-qui-aht management of cuẃit and show that pluralistic, co-constitutive, and multiplicative understandings of Indigenous and scientific ways of knowing may provide better grounding for addressing challenges in integration efforts. We also emphasize the importance of engagement with FN community liaisons and deferral to FN leadership to align management efforts with FN structures of knowledge production and governance, maintain ethical engagement, recognize Indigenous agency, and support effective conservation, and management efforts.

scholarly journals Drinking Water Consumption Patterns: An Exploration of Risk Perception and Governance in Two First Nations Communities

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (17) ◽  
pp. 6851
Author(s):  
Neal Spicer ◽  
Brenda Parlee ◽  
Molly Chisaakay ◽  
Doug Lamalice
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Bottled Water ◽  
Consumption Patterns ◽  
First Nation ◽  
Individual Risk

Many Indigenous communities across Canada suffer from the lack of access to clean drinking water; ensuring individuals and communities have safe water to drink either from their home or from their local environment requires the consideration of multiple factors including individual risk perception. In collaboration with local leaders, semi-structured interviews (n = 99) were conducted over a two-year period in the Dene Tha’ First Nation and Kátł’odeeche First Nation to unpack the issue of risk perception and its meaning to local community members. These local metrics of risk perception including smell, taste, safety, health fears and level of concern were then used to explore patterns in other data on drinking water consumption patterns and bottled water use. The results are consistent with previous research related to water insecurity and indicate that both communities consume more bottled water than the average Canadian. Results also varied by jurisdiction; those in Alberta indicated much higher levels of concern and a greater degree of bottled water consumption.

Missiological implications for Taylor Seminary arising from Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 407-413
Author(s):  
Allan Effa
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation Commission ◽  
Final Report ◽  
Cooperative Effort ◽  
Truth And Reconciliation ◽  
Cultural Genocide ◽  
The Government ◽  
Government Of Canada ◽  
Set Up

In 2015 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada concluded a six-year process of listening to the stories of Canada’s First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. More than 6000 witnesses came forth to share their personal experiences in listening sessions set up all across the country. These stories primarily revolved around their experience of abuse and cultural genocide through more than 100 years of Residential Schools, which were operated in a cooperative effort between churches and the government of Canada. The Commission’s Final Report includes 94 calls to action with paragraph #60 directed specifically to seminaries. This paper is a case study of how Taylor Seminary, in Edmonton, is seeking to engage with this directive. It explores the changes made in the curriculum, particularly in the teaching of missiology, and highlights some of the ways the seminary community is learning about aboriginal spirituality and the history and legacy of the missionary methods that have created conflict and pain in Canadian society.

A fatal waterborne disease epidemic in Walkerton, Ontario: comparison with other waterborne outbreaks in the developed world

2003 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.E. Hrudey ◽  
P. Payment ◽  
P.M. Huck ◽  
R.W. Gillham ◽  
E.J. Hrudey
Keyword(s):  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Reference Source ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Drinking Water Safety ◽  
Public Inquiry ◽  
Contaminated Drinking Water ◽  
The Government ◽  
Safety Of Drinking Water ◽  
Developed World

An estimated 2,300 people became seriously ill and seven died from exposure to microbially contaminated drinking water in the town of Walkerton, Ontario, Canada in May 2000. The severity of this drinking water disaster resulted in the Government of Ontario calling a public inquiry by Mr. Justice Dennis O’Connor to address the cause of the outbreak, the role (if any) of government policies in contributing to this outbreak and, ultimately, the implications of this experience on the safety of drinking water across the Province of Ontario. The circumstances surrounding the Walkerton tragedy are an important reference source for those concerned with providing safe drinking water. Although some circumstances are obviously specific to this epidemic, others are uncomfortably reminiscent of waterborne outbreaks that have occurred elsewhere. These recurring themes suggested the need for attention to broad issues of drinking water security and they present the challenge for how drinking water safety can be managed to prevent such tragedies in the future.

scholarly journals Accountability and Control: Canada’s First Nations Reporting Requirements

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Baker ◽  
Bettina Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Theory ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Reporting Requirements ◽  
The Government ◽  
Government Of Canada ◽  
Auditor General ◽  
And Control

This paper explores the accountability relationship between the Government of Canada and First Nations Bands arising from Program Devolution. Reporting requirements associated with this relationship have been characterized in a 2002 Report of the Auditor General of Canada as burdensome and of little use to many of the First Nations communities that are compelled to meet them. This study examines the reporting requirements used in the Auditor General ’s report and drawing on institutional theory and accountability literature develops a theoretically informed argument positioning Program Devolution, as it was practiced, as a colonizing undertaking that undermines self-government.<br /><br />

Off-flavor as the consumer's measure of drinking water safety

1995 ◽  
Vol 31 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. McGuire
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Drinking Water ◽  
Water Utilities ◽  
Regulatory Environment ◽  
Safe Drinking Water ◽  
Water Safety ◽  
Safe Water ◽  
Drinking Water Safety ◽  
Off Flavors ◽  
Health Related

If consumers detect an off-flavor in their drinking water, they are likely to believe that it probably is not safe. Water utilities will be defeating their best efforts to provide safe drinking water if they only meet health-related regulations and do not provide water that is free of off-flavor problems. The purpose of this paper is to explore the current U.S. regulatory environment and discuss how these regulations can adversely impact the control of off-flavors in drinking water. Utilities should adopt a water quality goal that allows them to not only meet the minimums of the regulations, but also meet the customer's highest standards - water that is free of off-flavors.

International debt and linkage strategies: some foreign-policy implications for the United States

1985 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 699-727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin J. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
The United States ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Power Resources ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Imf

The global debt problem influences the foreign-policy capabilities of the United States through its impact on the government's “linkage strategies” in foreign affairs. In some circumstances policy makers are forced to make connections between different policy instruments or issues that might not otherwise have been felt necessary; in others, opportunities for connections are created that might not otherwise have been felt possible. The Polish debt crisis of 1981–82, the Latin American debt crisis of 1982–83, and the IMF quota increase in 1983 are suggestive in this regard. Linkage strategies bred by the debt issue are more apt to be successful when the interest shared by the United States with other countries in avoiding default is reinforced by other shared economic or political interests. They will also be more successful to the extent that the government can supplement its own power resources by relating bank decisions to foreign-policy considerations. Power in such situations, however, is a wasting asset, even when employed indirectly through the intermediation of the IMF.

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