Category: Uncategorized

Ottawa, Ontario (December 1, 2021) — The Minister of Indigenous Services, Patty Hajdu, issued the following statement today:

“We welcome the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO)’s report and share the PBO’s commitment to providing adequate funding for safe drinking water in First Nations communities.

Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) remains focused on working with First Nations to support them in resolving outstanding issues they face in accessing safe drinking water. Reconciliation requires taking action to support Indigenous Peoples on their path forward and addressing long-standing funding gaps.  

In partnership with First Nations leadership and communities across the country, the Government of Canada has made significant investments in water-related infrastructure on reserves. Since Budget 2016, Canada has committed $5.2 billion to support First Nations to bring safe drinking water to their communities.

The results of the PBO report are encouraging, showing that our investments to date have closed the capital funding gap identified in the 2017 report.

The report also identifies operations and maintenance as essential to sustainable access to a safe water supply in First Nations communities. We strongly agree with the PBO, and that is why we have increased support for operations and maintenance so that 100% of water and wastewater operations and maintenance costs will be covered—up from 80%—based on an updated funding formula that more accurately reflects current costs.

By 2025–26, we will have increased the annual funding provided to support the operations and maintenance of water and wastewater systems by almost four times since 2019–20.

While we are making progress, there is still more work to do. With support from ISC, First Nations have lifted 119 long-term drinking water advisories. However, 43 advisories remain in 31 communities. We are working with our partners to lift those advisories that are still in effect as quickly as possible. We have decreased the number of high- and medium-risk systems, but we need to continue our efforts to lower these risk ratings because we know there is no acceptable number of drinking water advisories beyond zero.

The government will continue to support First Nations in implementing sustainable solutions that best suit their communities’ needs and supporting healthy, safe and prosperous communities.”

The Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act is designed to conserve and protect federally-owned lighthouses that have significant heritage value. To date, a total of 106 lighthouses have been designated and protected under the Act. Heritage lighthouses are designated by the Minister responsible for Parks Canada (the Minister of Environment and Climate Change) on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.

The Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act protects the heritage character of designated heritage lighthouses. Designated heritage lighthouses must be reasonably maintained and any alterations must be consistent with national and international standards for conservation. The Act also facilitates the sale or transfer of a heritage lighthouse to other levels of government, to community organizations, or to individuals, in order to ensure an ongoing public purpose for the lighthouse and its long-term conservation. Any sale or transfer of a heritage lighthouse out of the federal portfolio must provide for the protection of its heritage character.

Canadians play an important role in the long-term conservation of heritage lighthouses. Under the Act, a lighthouse that is no longer required by the federal government can only be designated if a new owner is identified who can protect its heritage character. Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard have been working with community-based organizations and other levels of government to find responsible, viable new owners for many cherished lighthouses across Canada. To date, sale or transfer agreements have been completed for 63 heritage lighthouses. 

Since 2012, lighthouses from across the country have been recognized, reflecting the Canadian lighthouse system as a whole. The designation criteria identify lighthouses with exceptional heritage values, or a combination of noteworthy elements, in order to promote designations among a wide variety of lighthouses. Many of the country’s architecturally and historically significant lighthouses have been designated, including Triple Island in British Columbia, Île du Pot à l’Eau-de-Vie in Quebec, and Cape Spear in Newfoundland and Labrador. A group of four lighthouses were the first to be designated in 2012: three “pepper pot” style towers in Ontario (McNab Point, Saugeen River Front and Rear Range), as well as St. Paul Island Southwest, a cast-iron cylindrical tower in Nova Scotia. Though modest in nature, these four lighthouses are treasured symbols of their maritime communities, as are all of the lighthouses designated under the Act.  

Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Canadian Coast Guard will continue to work with Canadians to identify responsible new owners for other cherished lighthouses. New owners of heritage lighthouses may be eligible to apply for funding to support conservation and presentation projects through Parks Canada’s National Cost-Sharing Program for Heritage Places.

                                                                                      -30-