At its most simple, the problem is underfunding, but that begs the question of why there is underfunding.
The money that flows out of Aboriginal Affairs (previously INAC) is huge, and there is a lot of dispute as to whether it is being spent wisely (for example, have a look at Attawapiskat), but the simple facts are that water and waste water systems cost a lot to build and maintain, and cost even more when they are situated in remote areas (often without year 'round road access), and cost yet even more when the residents do not have the workforce to build or maintain them.
It will cost billions to ensure that all First Nations communities will have basic water and waste water services. The Federal government – not just the Harpers, but also the Liberals before them – have not been willing to open up their purse strings sufficiently to meet the existing need or to prepare for the upcoming need due to very high birth rates (“We’re popping out babies like Pez dispensers on the Res!” to quote one of my First Nations students).
What takes place is that Reservations wait in line until the government gets around to them, and it is a long wait. Yes, there are many completed projects, but they often do not meet the increasing demand due to the increasing populations, and often are not adequately maintained due to the lack of a skilled workforce on reserves and due to political instability and nepotism on reserves. Yes, there are quite a few projects underway, but they, like many of their precursors, are usually so tightly bean counted that usually minor firms who underbid win the contracts, which in turn leads to construction delays, lawsuits over deficiencies, and facilities prone to failure. All these come down to the government dodging the cost of providing water and waste water services to reserves.
Now add to that the general public’s attitude to the problem. The Harpers have succeeded in past elections in large part due to their promoting the limiting of budget expenditures. Tossing out about five billion dollars to communities that for the most part do not vote, and when they do only seldom vote Conservative, is not a good way to keep getting elected. Beyond this is the issue of “Why should they get water and waste water when I don’t?” Only about three-quarters of people in Canada have water and waste water, for it tends to be an urban service. Folks who live in the boonies (such as myself) drill or dig our own wells and dig our own septic at our own cost. A fair question is why priority for water and waste water services should be given under constitutionally valid treaty rights at the expense of expense of taxpayers who do not receive such services. That is a voting issue for many people.
What it comes down to is that Canadians and our governments need to decide if we wish to support remote communities sufficiently so that they can succeed despite having no economic base and despite being socially isolated (to quote an air paramedic: “It’s Lord of the Flies up there!”), or if we wish to only support them as minimally as possible but in accordance with treaty terms. That question is incredibly complex, given the historical, cultural, social, economic and geographical factors, so there is not clear path, nor is there any possibility of a clear path any time soon.
What remains is that there are people without safe water and safe sewage who are not able to take care of that problem on their own. I do not find that acceptable, so I am willing to vote to have some of my taxes going toward helping them enjoy the same opportunities that the rest of us enjoy – for me it is a basic human rights issue. Other people are not willing to have their taxes go toward this, and instead either prefer to have a greater net income by not paying as much in taxes in the first place, or by using taxes to benefit taxpayers more rather than be thrown away trying to sustain remote communities that will never thrive and will only continue to be expanding cesspools of poverty and despair.
I think there are valid arguments on all sides, which unfortunately for the people living on remote reserves means that they will not be at the top of any government’s priority list if that government wishes the majority of the electorate to vote for it. Attempts to have an open an honest discussion of the issues more often than not lead to polarization, often including accusation (supportable or non-supportable) of racism being flung in both directions. That means that any serious attempt to address the First Nations water and waste water issue will be a political hot potato for whichever party that takes is on while in power.
Think of it this way. All the Harpers had to do to surge in the polls in what had previously been a fairly even race was to raise the flag concerning the cloth covering a couple of Muslim women’s faces during a ceremony for which they already shown their faces for ID purposes during the signing phase immediately prior to the ceremony. With an election turning something like that, a party trying for power would do well to only make motherhood statement such as “Drinking water for all Canadians” rather than get down in the nitty, gritty and shitty cultural and economic trench warfare that seriously addressing the problem will require.
