Siksika Nation begins process to acquire drinking water settlement

Siksika Nation has announced they will be moving forward with applications for claims under the First Nations Drinking Water Settlement. 

The settlement aims to compensate Nation members who were impacted by poor local water conditions and long-term water advisories which lasted from 1995 to 2021. 

Ola Koleoso, Siksika Nation Chief and Council’s liaison, said currently, talks regarding the settlement are in their early stages.

“It is a claim … and we are going through the process and learning as we go. A First Nation brought this up and is encouraging other First Nations who have similar challenges to join the process,” he said. “As we go through the process, we submit our claims through the contact, (Lucille Wright, as Siksika Nation’s Drinking Water Administrator) … and everything is due by early March.”

Based on the release distributed by Siksika Nation regarding the settlement claim, “the courts” have approved a settlement for nation members who were subjected to drinking water advisories within the indicated time period. 

Nation members who were born prior to Nov. 20, 1995 will be compensated if they ordinally resided on an impacted First Nation for over a year, during a long-term drinking water advisory that lasted for a year or longer, anytime between Nov. 20, 2013 and June 20, 2021.

“It is actually kind of cumbersome with how they explain it because it is not crystal clear for everybody,” said Koleoso. “If you are born before the indicated period, you qualify for the settlement, and that is the way it seems to be conveyed.”

He added no specific numbers had been shared with Siksika Nation yet as to exactly how much any one person may be compensated, nor how much money was being made available to fund the agreement.

Regarding how much of an impact there is to be had for locals currently or who resided on Siksika Nation, Koleoso explained the information which had been provided to Chief and Council was “extremely vague.”

More information will be made available as Chief and Council receive it prior to the application deadline on March 7, 2023.

According to Siksika Nation’s release, Wright will be attending Nation members’ homes after working hours and meeting with residents in support of applications and to clarify as much as possible with applicants.

Currently, no other application criteria has been made known for those who may be eligible for compensation under the settlement. 

Koleoso also did not go into detail regarding the potential health effects which may have impacted Nation members due to poor water quality during the indicated period.