Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm just referring back to my recurring question that I bring up every session on the amendment -- targeted amendments to the waters regs. Mr. Speaker, the last time I asked the Minister of Environment and Climate Change about that, he mentioned that he would have a concrete plan available for Members in the spring. I'm just asking the Minister for an update on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm very pleased to stand up today and appreciate the Member's thoroughness of returning with the question on a regular basis. I think this is an area that is very integral to the Northwest Territories and our ability to, you know, move things forward in a collaborative manner. The department is still committed to the phased approach for the amendments and the changes to the Waters Act for phase 1 being limited to the targeted amendments, and that work is well underway. And phase 2 being the more comprehensive review which will happen once the amendments are complete. And then we would go back to phase 3 if required depending on the changes to the act itself. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Minister laying out the general plan, but I didn't hear any new information in there. What I was looking for is does the Minister have a timeline for us? Again and again, I've emphasized that I'd like to see this proceed quickly. The whole idea with doing targeted amendments was that that could proceed quickly. Does the Minister have a timeline for us for this process today? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ECC is following the stepped approach outlined in the legislative developmental protocol and that is agreed to with the Intergovernmental Council. There's been several meetings to date. The most recent meeting of the technical working group happened actually earlier this week, and progress is certainly being made.
Now as the Minister of ECC, I can't directly lay out when this is going to be completed. This is a collaborative effort. It involves Indigenous governments, Indigenous organizations, the water boards, etcetera. So, you know, ensuring that we all have the capacity and the ability to move this forward in a timely manner has certainly been a priority, and we continue to that end. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Member from Frame Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Minister emphasizing the nature of the process, that it's a collaborative one. I would respectfully suggest back that they collaboratively come together and develop a timeline. So can the Minister commit to bringing a timeline back to the Assembly in a reasonable time? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I previously stated, you know, as the Minister, I cannot make a commitment to being able to provide a concrete timeline. I'm certainly happy to go back to the department and have a chat with our folks at the officials level and try and get a more focused projection of when things can be wrapped up on this file. I know we're committed, as well as the Indigenous governments, and the boards are very committed to getting this work done. You know, there are many things that were identified by the land and water boards that we're trying to address; we're working on addressing through this process. You know, clarifying water usage for ice bridges would be an example. That's sort of top of my list, but many areas, and we are certainly committed to expediting this as quickly as we possibly can. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Oral questions. Member from Deh Cho.
