Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, following up on my Member's statement today regarding the recent work done by the Department of ECC on the developing materials for the Indigenous governments around land leasing. My first question for the Minister of ECC is how would the department, I guess, define Indigenous traditional use cabins and who they are for? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. I think that, you know, as we talk about traditional use cabins, traditional activities, traditional use of the land across the NWT, it's important first and foremost to identify that as the Minister and I stand here, it's not my place to identify how an Indigenous government or an Indigenous organization's defined what a traditional use cabin or what their traditions entail amongst the Indigenous governments and the Indigenous organizations. There are many differences in tradition in how they define lifestyle and what their -- how things were done by their ancestors. What I will commit to standing here is to work with all of those Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations to ensure as we move forward, the policies and the work that we do together formed by those traditions and that we respect those in the path that we take. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And that's a good answer, Mr. Speaker. And I know that the Minister is well aware of what's happening here and what needs to be done and the length of time it's taken many years to get to where we are today. Following up on that, Mr. Speaker, one of the things that come out of the forum was the develop -- follow-up materials for Indigenous governments. Can the Minister speak to the timeline now as when we're going to follow up on that and, indeed, start this -- continue this consultation, gets that information out to Indigenous governments. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I'm happy to report that the work has started. It's well underway. As the Member indicated, there was a meeting on the 20th and 21st of May that was very well attended with some really good work done by all participants. There was also a follow-up meeting this morning, actually, between ECC and the technical working group to, again, advance this initiative, and ECC is working very close with the technical working group through the Intergovernmental Council on land and resource management and under the development protocol to amend the NWT act and regulations. So this work is very collaborative. You know, we're very committed to following a process that is really working together to ensure that all of our interests are represented at the end of the day and that they are truly informed by the traditional knowledge within the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Final supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister. I think we're starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel here, and I know it's going to take a continued commitment from the Minister to keep pushing this issue forward and getting this work done. Follow-up question, Mr. Speaker, you mentioned the amendments to the Northwest Territories land regulations. Do we have a timeline for that? Has the department come up with a schedule and timeline to get these amendments done so we can move this forward? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Member pointed out, we have committed to, you know, trying to reduce the rent to a nominal fee or a dollar in the short-term, as well as, you know, ensure that we're addressing this in the long-term. Right now, currently, the way the legislation is written, we can't technically charge rent less than $150. So that's our -- really our short-term goal here is to address that. And as we work with our partners, giving a specific timeline to this process is difficult. There are many participants here. If I could, I'd be happy to do that tomorrow. But, you know, we have a process and a protocol that we follow to ensure that all the voices are heard. And I just wanted to reiterate my commitment to get this done as certainly, as quickly as we can. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Oral questions. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
