SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - In July, 2008, Albertan Neil McCrank released a report suggesting the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board should absorb the duties of the other land and water boards in the NWT - but one year on, little has changed.

McCrank was appointed to the task by Indian Affairs and Northern Development Minister Chuck Strahl, and spokesperson for Indian Affairs, Margot Geduld, said the ministry was still at the talking stage.

"All I can tell you is that we're working with partners, circulating drafts and talking with the stakeholders involved," said Geduld. "We're trying to come up with a solution that works for everyone."

Mackenzie water board chair Willard Hagen said the ministry had been in discussions with his organization.

"We're going over what we do now and talking about any changes we would like to see to the act (Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act) itself," said Hagen. "We're trying to make it more transparent and with more clarity."

He added that any changes to the regional boards would be a long process.

"There's a lot of consultation that they have to go through, because the land and water boards all come under land claim agreements, which of course are constitutionally protected," he said.

"I would say that in a minority government situation they would probably have a pretty hard sell."

However, Hagen said he and the Mackenzie board would be open to changes.

"We're a progressive board, we have very progressive people and we don't see change as a bad thing."

Zabey Nevitt, executive director of the Wek'eezhii Land and Water Board, said the ministry had been in contact with them, but the particulars were scant.

There are three regional regulatory boards operating under the umbrella of the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, including the Wek'eezhii board, plus boards representing the Sahtu and Gwich'in.

"They are talking to us about the process of examining the McCrank Report. We haven't had a lot of detail on what they're going to do. We haven't heard a lot," said Nevitt.

However he is not overly concerned about the pace of the ministry, saying the Wek'eezhii board and its regional contemporaries have already taken the bull by the horns.

"Even before McCrank released his report we formed a series of working groups with very specific mandates to look at board operations, board policy and board processes, to create more standard procedures and consistency in the way we do our work," he said.

"While INAC (Indian and Northern Affairs Canada) figures out what it's going to do in response - we're doing stuff, we've been getting on and doing work."

He said the regional boards are not perfect, but it is still a relatively new system and they're working to iron out the kinks.

"The boards haven't just been sitting back and saying 'no, no, no, we think we've got it all sorted.' No, we recognize this is a new system and there's a lot of work that needs to be done to get it to a point that it's as effective as it can be," he said.

Nevitt said it is essential for there to be some level of homogeneity in the regional system while still recognizing the unique needs of the regions.

"We do respect that when a company comes in and they want to do work in Gwich'in or they want to come down here and work in Wek'eezhii - there should be some level of standard procedures with respect for the regional differences," he said.

Larry Wallace, chair of the Sahtu Land and Water Board, said he had received no correspondence from the ministry, but he agreed that it is helpful to have a level of consistency between the boards.

"If you were to apply for a land use permit in Gwich'in or Wek'eezhii or the Sahtu, the process you go through should be the same, only the letter head on the top would change," he said.

He said the majority of the work the land and water boards do is very efficient but hold ups occur when an application moves to another body.

"Ninety per cent of the board applications are done within the required 42-day period. Where some of the hold ups come in is when it goes to an environmental assessment. That's when everything slows down. What land and water boards do themselves - issuing permits - it's pretty smooth," he said.

He said abandoning the regional system would leave too many people in the NWT without a voice.

"It's an Alberta thing, they did it. But if we do it, what say to other people have?"