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10 - Indigenous Peoples and Water Governance in Canada

Regulatory Injustice and Prospects for Reform

from Part III - Exclusion and Struggles for Co-Decision

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2018

Rutgerd Boelens
Affiliation:
Wageningen Universiteit, The Netherlands
Tom Perreault
Affiliation:
Syracuse University, New York
Jeroen Vos
Affiliation:
Wageningen Universiteit, The Netherlands
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Summary

High rates of resource extraction in northern and western Canada are creating intense socio- environmental pressures on indigenous peoples’ traditional territories. Fresh water systems are particularly affected by mining, oil and gas extraction, and forestry. This, in turn, has significant impacts on indigenous communities, including compromised access to safe drinking water, threats to environmental water quality, and related livelihood and health issues. This chapter documents and analyses several clear instances of regulatory injustice within Canada’s colonial water governance framework. The authors first provide an overview of the legal and regulatory architecture of environmental and water governance in Canada, with specific examples of the disjuncture between colonial (Western) law and indigenous water laws. Next, the chapter presents examples of regulatory injustice in the province of British Columbia: the FITFIR (First in Time, First in Right) water rights regime; and the hydropower development consultation regime. The authors then explore current responses, focusing on the potential for indigenous water co-governance—concluding with some concrete suggestions for reform.
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Water Justice , pp. 193 - 209
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

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