Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, previous Member statements, myself as well as other colleagues, have expressed concerns about cabin leases. Specifically for me, Mr. Speaker, cabin leases on Crown lands in the Inuvialuit settlement region. It's my understanding that in the Inuvialuit final agreements that permits are required on Crown lands that will be provided at no cost. Can the Minister of ECC please give us an update on what's happened with those. I understand, Mr. Speaker, that people are still being invoiced for those cabins. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Minister for Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department has made significant efforts in this area across all of the NWT. We've reached out to all of the Indigenous governments and are currently working on a collaborative process to address the leasing of public land. And we also have a process where existing owners or lessees can apply through the department to have their current lease fees paused as we work through this process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister. So can the Minister confirm, then, if invoices are still being charged? I understand there is an opportunity to request to have a pause, certainly not everybody -- certainly traditional people that have harvesting cabins out there may not have the ability or the technology to actually require -- to apply for that request -- sorry, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister confirm that invoices is still being charged to members in the Inuvialuit settlement region that have cabins on Crown lands. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if the individuals in question have not gone and completed the application to pause that process, then they could still be receiving invoices. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Final supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
That's disappointing, Mr. Speaker. We had hoped given that, you know, this has been ongoing for quite some time that we had understood that all invoicing would be paused until such time as this work can be completed. Having said that, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister commit to when they're going to finally get this issue put to rest, a timeline on when we can see this proposed change put into place. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, sort of a two-part question but happy to answer both of them.
So when it comes to the specific of no longer invoicing, this is a voluntary program that we put in place to address those concerns and it does not relieve the land user of the responsibility of the payment. This is not a forgiveness policy but a temporary pause of payment. So there may be some lessees or leasers that don't want to pause the payment the way it's going currently. So that's the first part.
On the second part, Mr. Speaker, we have sent out invitations to all of the Indigenous governments to come back to the department. We have engagement sessions booked for the spring and summer, one in the Beaufort Delta I believe, and one in Hay River, to start these conversations. And we're certainly, you know, happy to hear from all of the Indigenous governments. It's not a process that we as the GNWT or as the department was putting forward our expectations but really are anxious to hear what the Indigenous governments' positions are and how we can work together to find a solution. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
