The world needs more Canada. It’s a good soundbite to be sure, but what do people mean when they say it? Are they referring to the stereotypical politeness of the “noble Canadian”? Is it because the Canadians are sure to be outraged and crank open the release valves on our sizeable reservoirs of aid money and political pressure when the latest grand injustice is perpetrated against the vulnerable and innocent of the world? Maybe it’s meant in a more literal sense, alluding to the fact that Canada contains about 20% of a thirsty world’s total freshwater resources. An impressive percentage given that Canada comprises a paltry 0.49% of the global population.
Based on these numbers, one might expect all Canadians to enjoy a lifestyle where water is essentially unlimited – where any real barrier to water access is so far from present concern and collective memory as to be relegated to discussions of theoretical blights on society and doomsday scenarios. One might think that Canada would be a place where any interruptions to a continuous supply of perfectly clean water to any faucet in any house or business is considered an abject failure of public infrastructure. “You can’t cut off my water, it’s my right!”, angry apartment tenants would holler from their windows down to the street where workers perform maintenance on the local water main. Okay, I’m being a bit facetious, but you get the idea.
For the most part, the assumption that good, clean water is about as abundant as air in Canada is exactly right. For the most part.
It’s shocking to think that in Canada, one of the richest countries in the world with the third largest reservoirs of freshwater globally, still contains communities that do not have reliable access to clean drinking water today. It’s frankly mind-blowing. And yet, this lack of basic access is the reality for countless First Nations reserves primarily in Canada’s rural north.
In 2015 the United Nations passed a resolution containing 17 goals, called the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs for short), to guide global development over the next 15 years. These SDGs replace the previously reigning Millennium Development Goals which expired at the end of 2015. Number 6 on the list of SGDs is the vision to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” (UN Sustainable Development). This comes after the United Nations General Assembly officially recognised access to clean drinking water and adequate sanitation as a basic human right in July of 2010. Even prior to this, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognised that “the human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realisation of other human rights.” (UNDESA)
If access to clean water and sanitation is so widely recognised as foundational to human welfare then why is Canada, a rich nation with abundant freshwater, still unable to provide access to all of its citizens?
The reasons for the water crisis on First Nations reserves are many and complicated. Not the least of which is the fact that the regulations that govern safety standards for water and sanitation systems on First Nation reserves are not as rigorous as in the rest of the Canadian provinces. Not surprisingly, this disparity has led to what would otherwise be considered to be substandard systems with short lifespans being installed on reserves (Human Rights Watch).
At this point it should be noted that the problem is not that the government hasn’t tried to fund the development of safer infrastructure on First Nation reserves. The problem is that to this point in time it has failed to implement anything effectively.
Recently, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged almost CAD$4.6 billion over five years to invest in the development of infrastructure to serve First Nations communities. An impressive sum, but if history tells us anything, it’s that funding alone will not be enough to get the job done. Proper policy must be in place to help convert financial support into resilient and sustainable infrastructure.
One area of debate (and in my opinion, concern) is the decision between privatising water and sanitation services on reserves or administering them publicly. In other words, the government must answer the age-old question: make or buy?
Proponents of New Public Management (essentially, the idea that governments should be run more like businesses) might say that contracting out public services generally makes those services more efficient and effective through exposure to the competitive pressures of the open market. For some services this may be true. For others, the interests of private organizations may be dangerously divergent from the interests of the public. In other cases it might be too difficult for the government to provide adequate oversight. (Skelcher, 2007)
While private firms are almost exclusively interested in the short and possibly medium-run returns on investment, large public infrastructure projects often have massive upfront costs and long ROI horizons. These financial disincentives are compounded by the fact that the return on value delivered through public infrastructure (e.g. happier and healthier people) is not readily appropriated as financial gain by an individual firm. This creates a situation where a private firm providing a public service is only interested in satisfying the terms of the contract while incurring the lowest possible cost. This means that the quality of service is mainly dependent on the ability of the government to monitor and enforce the terms of the contract, something that may be quite difficult given the geographical isolation of many reserves. In these cases, establishing clear and appropriate financial and legal accountability regimes along with a rigorous oversight program is critical. There must be upward accountability from the provider to the government, and downward accountability from the government and provider to the people.
Some projects are simply much better candidates for public funding. Given the existing lack of proper policy around the quality of drinking water on reserves, what’s to stop a private firm from setting up shops in the First Nations and only doing the bare minimum in service delivery in order to keep costs low? Haven’t first nations dealt with inadequate services for long enough? I think it’s time that Canada takes full responsibility for the direct and immediate delivery of clean and safe water and sanitation infrastructure on reserves. First Nations people are entitled to all of the rights of every Canadian Citizen, not to mentionable of the human rights outlined by the United Nations.
If what people mean by “the world needs more Canada” has anything to do with charity and protecting human welfare, then I would say that Canada needs to be more Canadian too.
Materials Consulted
Skelcher, C. (2005). Public-private partnerships and hybridity. In E. Ferlie, L. E. Lynn, & C. Pollitt (Authors), The Oxford handbook of public management (pp. 347-370). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
