Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Member for the question. The GNWT understands and shares the concerns that Indigenous governments and all NWT residents have for our shared waters. This spill and seepage has been a priority for me and this government. The GNWT, in collaboration with the Fort Smith Metis Council, Smith Landing First Nation, and the Town of Fort Smith, collected weekly water quality samples to track potential impacts of the incident upstream and address human health concerns until early summer of 2023 with the regular water sampling schedule resumed. Primary results analysis in June showed that the water in the Slave River are safe for people and animals with no evidence of chemicals from the seepage and spill and contaminated Slave River within the NWT. The GNWT also initiated a formal dispute resolution process under the bilateral agreement as we are of the view that Alberta was required to notify the GNWT of the seepage and spill as early as practical and didn't.
We continue to work through the dispute resolution process, Mr. Speaker. Since the process was initiated in March, information sharing from the Government of Alberta has significantly improved.
Finally, I was successful in asking the federal Minister to include a representative of the GNWT and NWT Indigenous governments in a joint federal, provincial, and territorial Indigenous notification working group. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.