Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) is continuing its efforts to be included on the Impacted First Nations List in the upcoming First Nations Drinking Water Settlement.

The settlement allows impacted First Nations and their members who were subject to a drinking water advisory that lasted at least one year between Nov. 20, 1995 and June 20, 2021 to apply. The settlement includes compensation for Impacted First Nations and eligible individuals as well as commitments to fund the construction, operation, and maintenance of infrastructure needed to provide regular access to safe drinking water in their homes.

Claims for the first Nations water Settlement must be submitted before the March 7 deadline.

Currently, Six Nations residents have been urged to apply individually until SNEC receive confirmation that Six Nations will be added to the Impacted First Nations List.

Six Nations Chief Mark Hill advised community members on the current situation during Tuesday's General Council Meeting.

"One of our issues is that still we need to be added to the list. So, as council is well aware, we've been submitting all of our evidence and documentation that would make us eligible to be on that list. We have heard back from the administers that as of (last) Friday that they've received all of our documents, they're now reviewing and we should hear back hopefully by this week to confirm whether or not we will be on the list," he said.

"In the meantime, for the threshold piece, community members are encouraged to just come in (to council's office) and we'll help them walk through each step." He added.

In a previous council meeting in November 2022, Rod Whitlow, Six Nations environmental lead, spoke on the national lawsuit and whether or not individuals from Six Nations would meet the threshold to qualify in this settlement.

“I’ve asked a lot of questions to the experts and delegates over so many years about if individual households on Six Nations meet that threshold to apply for compensation under this class settlement. The answers that I got consistently were 'yes.'"

“Theoretically, we do have individuals that from the period of 1995 to June of 2021 they definitely meet the threshold,” he continued.

This lawsuit is just one of many legal proceedings that Six Nations is involved in at the moment including this lawsuit regarding clean drinking water and also a class action lawsuit against the Federal Government seeking reparations for the loss of language and culture brought on by Indian residential schools. Chief Mark Hill said SNEC will continue to seek legal advice to ensure it's community members are heard.

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