Transferrable Principles to Revolutionize Drinking Water Governance in First Nation Communities in Canada
Date
2020
Authors
Irvine, Alison
Schuster Wallace, Corinne
Dickson-Anderson, Sarah
Bharadwaj, Lalita
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MDPI
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Article
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Abstract
There are analogous challenges when it comes to the management and provision of health services and drinking water in First Nations reserves in Canada; both represent human rights and both involve complex and multijurisdictional management. The purpose of this study is to translate the tenets of Jordan’s Principle, a child-first principle regarding health service provision, within the broader context of First Nation drinking water governance in order to identify avenues for positive change. This project involved secondary analysis of data from 53 semi-structured, key informant (KI) interviews across eight First Nation communities in western Canada. Data were coded according to the three principles of: provision of culturally inclusive management, safeguarding health, and substantive equity. Failure to incorporate Traditional Knowledge, water worldviews, and holistic health as well as challenges to technical management were identified as areas currently restricting successful drinking water management. Recommendations include improved infrastructure, increased resources (both financial and non-financial), in-community capacity building, and relationship building. To redress the inequities currently experienced by First Nations when it comes to management of and access to safe drinking water, equitable governance structures developed from the ground up and embedded in genuine relationships between First Nations and Canadian federal government agencies are required.
Description
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords
drinking water, First Nations, drinking water management, Jordan's Principle, equity, culturally appropriate services, human rights
Citation
Irvine, A.; Schuster-Wallace, C.; Dickson-Anderson, S.; Bharadwaj, L. Transferrable Principles to Revolutionize Drinking Water Governance in First Nation Communities in Canada. Water 2020, 12, 3091. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12113091
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Citation
Irvine, A.; Schuster-Wallace, C.; Dickson-Anderson, S.; Bharadwaj, L. Transferrable Principles to Revolutionize Drinking Water Governance in First Nation Communities in Canada. Water 2020, 12, 3091. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12113091