OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government will introduce clean drinking water legislation in the spring, delaying a bill that had been promised for this fall.
Carney promised to revive the legislation during an address to the Assembly of First Nations gathering in Ottawa on Tuesday, saying he will host a joint meeting with federal, provincial, territorial and First Nations leaders early in the new year and that co-ordination on water solutions will be a key agenda item.
Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty said in July she would reintroduce legislation to ensure First Nations’ right to clean drinking water this fall, despite calls from Alberta and Ontario for Ottawa to scrap the bill altogether.
The Ontario and Alberta environment ministers sent a letter to their federal counterpart this summer calling on Carney’s government to abandon the legislation, which they argued would undermine competitiveness and delay project development.
In his speech today, Carney said 85 per cent of drinking water advisories on reserve have been lifted through investments of over $7 billion since 2016.
He said his government is committed to ending the remaining 38 advisories and allocated an additional $2.3 billion to the project in Budget 2025.
The prime minister said he recognizes the need for a more permanent solution through a co-ordinated approach, “supported by the right funding mechanism, and with the provinces and territories at the table.”
Carney also pledged Tuesday to complete the “crucial work” led by Gull-Masty to reform child and family services. He said that will help ensure more First Nations children grow up safe, secure and deeply connected to their families, culture and language.
First Nations chiefs voted unanimously Tuesday to press the government to uphold the oil tanker ban off the northern British Columbia coast and withdraw an agreement signed last week that clears a path for a new oil pipeline to the B.C. coast.
Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith signed a memorandum of understanding on Nov. 27 to co-operate on energy, opening up the prospect of an exemption from the tanker ban to support the pipeline.
The ban was passed in legislation in 2019, putting legal teeth behind a non-binding moratorium that had been in place in the region since the 1970s. It bars oil tankers carrying more than 12,500 tonnes of crude oil from stopping or unloading at ports from the northern tip of Vancouver Island to the Alaska border.
Chief Donald Edgars of Old Massett Village in Haida Gwaii put forward the resolution Tuesday calling on chiefs to affirm support for the oil tanker ban, and to support First Nations in B.C. in their opposition to any new pipeline.
Edgars told his fellow chiefs a new pipeline to B.C.’s coast is “nothing but a pipe dream” and that passing his resolution would show Carney they are united in their opposition.
“We cannot let this happen,” Edgars told the chiefs.
“I call on all chiefs to reject this dangerous precedent. I ask the chiefs to stand in support of coastal First Nations who firmly reject any pipelines that propose running through our territories.”
The resolution was seconded by B.C.-based Indigenous resource lawyer Merle Alexander, who said an oil spill would destroy the livelihoods of people in the region.
During her opening remarks to the gathering, AFN National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak slammed Carney’s government over what she called its failure to consult meaningfully with First Nations and cuts to federal investments in First Nations communities.
Woodhouse Nepinak said First Nations will continue to protect their rights, in and outside of the courts.
Prime ministers and their cabinets traditionally attend the December AFN meeting to gauge the outlook of First Nations leadership and field chiefs’ questions and criticisms.
Woodhouse Nepinak told The Canadian Press Carney would be wise to come to the meeting with firm commitments to things the chiefs want, such as the clean drinking water legislation.
Some of the most prominent members of Carney’s cabinet will address the chiefs over the course of the three-day gathering: Gull-Masty, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty, Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, National Defence Minister David McGuinty and Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson.
Hodgson found himself in hot water last week when he brushed off concerns from Coastal First Nations about failing to meet with them before the pipeline agreement was signed with Alberta.
“It’s called Zoom,” Hodgson quipped on CBC’s Power and Politics when asked about Coastal First Nations president Marilyn Slett’s inability to make the trip to Vancouver on short notice for a meeting.
He apologized for those remarks, saying on social media it was a “poor choice of words” and offering to meet with the First Nations “at their convenience.”
First Nations leaders have for months criticized the Carney government’s approach to First Nations, saying its actions signal a major shift in the tone of the relationship set by former prime minister Justin Trudeau.
They have accused his government of introducing legislation that affects them without their consent or co-operation as it seeks to remake the economy in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war.
Woodhouse Nepinak acknowledged “Canada is going through challenging times” but insisted Carney won’t get the economic wins he wants by shutting First Nations out of the conversation.
“Canada can create all the MOUs, projects offices and advisory groups (it wants), but chiefs will be united — and are united — when it comes to the approval of projects on First Nations lands,” she said. “There will be no getting around rights-holders.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 2, 2025.
Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press
