Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, following up on my Member's statement, I have questions for the Minister of ECC.
Mr. Speaker, when is the Minister -- or can I get a commitment from the Minister or an update -- I should say -- from the Minister on the commitments that I outlined in my Member's statement regarding the traditional use cabins? Where are we with that, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. The Minister for ECC.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. I know this has come up a number of times on the floor of this House, and I'm very happy to speak to it. It's certainly one of my more passionate areas that I'm trying to advance.
So to date, we have -- you know, we've proposed an amendment to the NWT land regulations to reduce the rent rate down to a dollar. We're currently working with the Intergovernmental Council Secretariat and Indigenous governments on this process. As recently as a week or two ago, there was a meeting of the technical working group where GCC took part in that discussion to ensure that, you know, we're trying to pursue this. And I've said on the floor of this House before, this is really a collaborative effort between the GNWT as well as all of the Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations and certainly want to respect that process, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I certainly appreciate the Minister is passionate about this. We've had obviously several conversations around this, Mr. Speaker. But when it comes to working shoulder to shoulder, when it comes to reconciliation, Mr. Speaker, this is low-hanging fruit. We should have this work done. This is now the second Assembly, and what I don't want to see is this moving into the 21st Assembly. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister give me a timeline on when we anticipate this work will be done and ready to proceed? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know this is going to be hard for the Member to hear. You know, I can't commit to a timeline because I really have to respect the collaborative protocol that guides this work. And, you know, it's recognized of value in achieving this work, but we can only get there through a collaborative process that ensures that we're respecting all parties, and there's not always necessarily perfect alignment amongst -- we have a number of Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations at the table as we go through this work and, you know, we want to ensure that we're respecting everyone's independent position and that we're collaborating and working together for results that are, you know, action-oriented at the end of the day and that meet everybody's needs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of ECC. Oral questions. Final supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, you know, the Indigenous residents and Indigenous governments I speak to are ready to get this work done. As I said, it is low-hanging fruit. Can -- you know, whether the Minister can commit to this but what I'd like to know from this Minister, are we working towards zero or nominal leases for Indigenous rights-based cabins and camps for harvesting in the Beaufort Delta? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I think I've said this many times. My goal here is to have the Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations come forward with paths forward that work for everyone. And my goal at the end of the day is to have a zero-dollar fee attached to this. I think, you know, in the interim, we have the ability to move down to a nominal fee, which is as low as we can go, down to a dollar within the legislation. And I think that's our interim target as we work together collaboratively to find a solution to this once and for all and get that fee down to zero dollars. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of ECC. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
