FREDERICTON — An environmental lawyer is calling for New Brunswick to enshrine into law the right to clean water.

Richelle Martin with East Coast Environmental Law told a legislature committee today the lack of such a law can result in unequal access to clean water.

The Fredericton-based lawyer says the province should also create formal ways the government can co-operate with Indigenous communities on freshwater-related issues.

The committee is considering ways to update the Clean Water Act and Martin says now is the time to legislate “enforceable rights to clean water.”

Earlier in the day a group representing 60 New Brunswick municipalities called on the government to launch an expert working group to consider ways to protect the province’s water supply.

Representatives of J.D. Irving Ltd. are scheduled to speak later in the morning.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2026.

Eli Ridder, The Canadian Press