Canada appeals court rulings on housing and water duties to remote First Nations
The federal government is challenging Federal Court decisions that found it had a legal duty to provide adequate housing and safe drinking water to remote First Nations communities in Manitoba, including Shamattawa, St. Theresa Point, and Sandy Lake.
The Federal Court of Appeal has begun hearing arguments in Winnipeg regarding the Canadian government's challenge to lower court rulings that established a duty to provide adequate housing and safe drinking water to specific remote First Nations communities. Several First Nation leaders attended the proceedings.
The appeal concerns decisions made late last year by Federal Court Justice Paul Favel involving Shamattawa First Nation and St. Theresa Point First Nation in Manitoba, as well as Sandy Lake First Nation. In one ruling, Justice Favel determined the government should have provided adequate housing to St. Theresa Point, Sandy Lake, and other members of a $5-billion class action certified in 2024. He stated that the reserves of class members were generally short "hundreds of houses to adequately shelter their populations," forcing many families into condemned units.
In a separate decision, Justice Favel found Ottawa had a duty to provide Shamattawa First Nation and other Indigenous communities subject to drinking water advisories after June 20, 2020, with water suitable for human consumption. That water-related class action involves $1.1 billion and builds on an earlier action that led to an $8-billion settlement in 2021.
Government lawyer Willemien Kruger argued that Justice Favel completely disregarded evidence presented by Canada and accepted irrelevant historical evidence. The federal government contends the ruling would create a duty of care across all aspects of on-reserve programs, contradicting policy supporting Indigenous self-government.
Michael Rosenberg, the lawyer representing the First Nations, countered that Canada is not a bystander to the class members' plight and that the country was built on their dispossession. He argued that self-government cannot be used as an excuse to leave First Nations without support until they can stand on their own feet.
Justice Favel's decisions represent the first stage of the class-action lawsuits, determining whether the government had an obligation. A second stage will address breaches and remedies.