{"id":106330,"date":"2026-06-30T08:29:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=106330"},"modified":"2026-06-30T08:29:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:29:26","slug":"can-bill-c-37-deliver-real-authority-to-first-nations-over-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/30\/can-bill-c-37-deliver-real-authority-to-first-nations-over-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Bill C-37 deliver real authority to First Nations over water?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0By Aaron Walker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com As First Nations leaders challenge one of Canada\u2019s largest proposed artificial intelligence data centres over its potential impact on fresh water, many say Ottawa\u2019s newly introduced clean water legislation leaves a fundamental question unanswered: Who ultimately decides what happens to waters in First Nations territory? The federal government says Bill C-37, the proposed First Nations Clean Water Act, would recognize First Nations\u2019 jurisdiction over water on First Nation lands while establishing enforceable drinking water standards, a First Nations-led water commission, and a long-term funding framework backed by a $4.6-billion investment. The bill replaces Bill C-61, which died on the Order Paper when Parliament was prorogued ahead of last year\u2019s federal election. Several First Nations leaders, however, say the legislation will ultimately be&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F06%2F30%2Fcan-bill-c-37-deliver-real-authority-to-first-nations-over-water%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0By Aaron Walker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com As First Nations leaders challenge one of Canada\u2019s largest proposed artificial intelligence data centres over its potential impact on fresh water, many say Ottawa\u2019s newly introduced clean water legislation leaves a fundamental question unanswered: Who ultimately decides what happens to waters in First Nations territory? The federal government says Bill C-37, the proposed First Nations Clean Water Act, would recognize First Nations\u2019 jurisdiction over water on First Nation lands while establishing enforceable drinking water standards, a First Nations-led water commission, and a long-term funding framework backed by a $4.6-billion investment. The bill replaces Bill C-61, which died on the Order Paper when Parliament was prorogued ahead of last year\u2019s federal election. Several First Nations leaders, however, say the legislation will ultimately be... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F06%2F30%2Fcan-bill-c-37-deliver-real-authority-to-first-nations-over-water%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Can Bill C-37 deliver real authority to First Nations over water? - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/30\/can-bill-c-37-deliver-real-authority-to-first-nations-over-water\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can Bill C-37 deliver real authority to First Nations over water? - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0By Aaron Walker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com As First Nations leaders challenge one of Canada\u2019s largest proposed artificial intelligence data centres over its potential impact on fresh water, many say Ottawa\u2019s newly introduced clean water legislation leaves a fundamental question unanswered: Who ultimately decides what happens to waters in First Nations territory? The federal government says Bill C-37, the proposed First Nations Clean Water Act, would recognize First Nations\u2019 jurisdiction over water on First Nation lands while establishing enforceable drinking water standards, a First Nations-led water commission, and a long-term funding framework backed by a $4.6-billion investment. The bill replaces Bill C-61, which died on the Order Paper when Parliament was prorogued ahead of last year\u2019s federal election. Several First Nations leaders, however, say the legislation will ultimately be\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/30\/can-bill-c-37-deliver-real-authority-to-first-nations-over-water\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-30T12:29:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/30\\\/can-bill-c-37-deliver-real-authority-to-first-nations-over-water\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/30\\\/can-bill-c-37-deliver-real-authority-to-first-nations-over-water\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Can Bill C-37 deliver real authority to First Nations over water?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-30T12:29:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/30\\\/can-bill-c-37-deliver-real-authority-to-first-nations-over-water\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1516,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/30\\\/can-bill-c-37-deliver-real-authority-to-first-nations-over-water\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/30\\\/can-bill-c-37-deliver-real-authority-to-first-nations-over-water\\\/\",\"name\":\"Can Bill C-37 deliver real authority to First Nations over water? 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