{"id":106947,"date":"2026-07-16T16:57:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T20:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=106947"},"modified":"2026-07-16T16:57:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T20:57:58","slug":"national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\/","title":{"rendered":"National chief slams federal clean water bill at AFN assembly"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News OTTAWA-Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak slammed the federal government\u2019s proposed legislation regarding clean drinking water for First Nations in her opening remarks at the AFN annual general assembly on July 14. Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty introduced the First Nations Clean Water Act, or Bill C-37, in the House of Commons last month, which was announced alongside a $4.6-billion investment in water and wastewater infrastructure. \u201cIt\u2019s disappointing that this new bill fails to clearly designate First Nations\u2019 rights to clean water, because no sum of money will distract from the red flags we see in this new clean water bill,\u201d said Nepinak at Ottawa\u2019s Rogers Centre. According to Indigenous Services Canada, there are 38… <\/p>\n

\n
\n
This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription – Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>\n
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News OTTAWA-Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak slammed the federal government\u2019s proposed legislation regarding clean drinking water for First Nations in her opening remarks at the AFN annual general assembly on July 14. Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty introduced the First Nations Clean Water Act, or Bill C-37, in the House of Commons last month, which was announced alongside a $4.6-billion investment in water and wastewater infrastructure. \u201cIt\u2019s disappointing that this new bill fails to clearly designate First Nations\u2019 rights to clean water, because no sum of money will distract from the red flags we see in this new clean water bill,\u201d said Nepinak at Ottawa\u2019s Rogers Centre. According to Indigenous Services Canada, there are 38... <\/p>\n

This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>
Already a member? 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-106947","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":"\nNational chief slams federal clean water bill at AFN assembly - 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\/07\/16\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"National chief slams federal clean water bill at AFN assembly - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News OTTAWA-Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak slammed the federal government\u2019s proposed legislation regarding clean drinking water for First Nations in her opening remarks at the AFN annual general assembly on July 14. Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty introduced the First Nations Clean Water Act, or Bill C-37, in the House of Commons last month, which was announced alongside a $4.6-billion investment in water and wastewater infrastructure. \u201cIt\u2019s disappointing that this new bill fails to clearly designate First Nations\u2019 rights to clean water, because no sum of money will distract from the red flags we see in this new clean water bill,\u201d said Nepinak at Ottawa\u2019s Rogers Centre. According to Indigenous Services Canada, there are 38\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\/\" \/>\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=\"2026-07-16T20:57:58+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=\"4 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\\\/07\\\/16\\\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/16\\\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"National chief slams federal clean water bill at AFN assembly\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-16T20:57:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/16\\\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":759,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/16\\\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/16\\\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\\\/\",\"name\":\"National chief slams federal clean water bill at AFN assembly - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-16T20:57:58+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/16\\\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/16\\\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/16\\\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"National chief slams federal clean water bill at AFN assembly\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\",\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynda Powless\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/lynda\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"National chief slams federal clean water bill at AFN assembly - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"National chief slams federal clean water bill at AFN assembly - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"By Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News OTTAWA-Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak slammed the federal government\u2019s proposed legislation regarding clean drinking water for First Nations in her opening remarks at the AFN annual general assembly on July 14. Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty introduced the First Nations Clean Water Act, or Bill C-37, in the House of Commons last month, which was announced alongside a $4.6-billion investment in water and wastewater infrastructure. \u201cIt\u2019s disappointing that this new bill fails to clearly designate First Nations\u2019 rights to clean water, because no sum of money will distract from the red flags we see in this new clean water bill,\u201d said Nepinak at Ottawa\u2019s Rogers Centre. According to Indigenous Services Canada, there are 38","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2026-07-16T20:57:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lynda Powless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lynda Powless","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynda Powless","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458"},"headline":"National chief slams federal clean water bill at AFN assembly","datePublished":"2026-07-16T20:57:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\/"},"wordCount":759,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["National News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\/","name":"National chief slams federal clean water bill at AFN assembly - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-07-16T20:57:58+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/16\/national-chief-slams-federal-clean-water-bill-at-afn-assembly\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"National chief slams federal clean water bill at AFN assembly"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458","name":"Lynda Powless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lynda Powless"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/lynda\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106947"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106948,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106947\/revisions\/106948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}