Environment committee  There is an agreement. It's the master agreement on apportionment via the Prairie Provinces Water Board. The Canada water agency houses the secretariat and helps chair the discussions. That helps the discussions around the apportionment of water through the basin across the three provinces.

Environment committee  Can I add a last piece here?

Environment committee  I'll start with the answer and then I will turn to my colleague to supplement the answer. As the first step what I would say is that the experimental lakes did receive funding in budget 2023 as part of the overall investment in the freshwater action plan. In terms of our collaborations with IISD, they're based in Winnipeg.

Environment committee  We'll come back with a written answer on this one if that's possible.

Environment committee  We will not be taking over the responsibilities of others, and NRCan is currently responsible for groundwater.

Environment committee  It's being finalized in the sense that it's being worked into our plans, our priority settings, our funding and our discussions with Treasury Board, but the final decision will rest with Parliament when the legislation to create the agency is tabled.

Environment committee  We're going to be using the offices of Environment and Climate Change Canada for the short term until we build our presence over the next few years, but that money will be used for supporting the mandate of the agency, the partnerships, the collaboration and the coordination, including the engagement of indigenous partners in the work we talked about on co-development.

Environment committee  Yes. We'll have an office in Dartmouth. We have an office in Quebec, and I'm going there tonight, actually. We'll have an office, a small presence, in Gatineau. We'll have an office in Toronto and in Burlington, an office in Winnipeg—a regional office and a headquarters office—and an office in Vancouver.

Environment committee  It will be an administrative act to create the agency, noting that the agency is created and reports to the minister, and it'll talk about the status of the staff, but of course Parliament will have the decisions to make about the final content of the legislation.

Environment committee  If the agency doesn't pass Parliament, we'll work with Treasury Board and with the department around what pieces of that funding can be used in different ways or not used. More importantly, the work of the agency right now is under way as a branch within Environment and Climate Change Canada, and for that work to engage indigenous peoples on our mandate and the review of the Canada Water Act, those are important pieces that we're continuing to push ahead as a branch within Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Environment committee  Yes.

Environment committee  Actually, one of them is in Quebec; it's the St. Lawrence basin. It's the focus of the St. Lawrence action plan, a joint initiative with the Quebec government. We have an agreement with Quebec on the subject. We also have a budget to support activities in Quebec.

Environment committee  Thank you. We've had some initial conversations with British Columbia. I received a briefing last week from British Columbia on their initiatives. We've identified the Fraser basin as one of the ecosystem initiatives. We are looking forward to getting together with British Columbia to work on what some of the priorities are for science, monitoring and restoration activities.

Environment committee  We haven't moved in that direction yet. At this stage, what we're looking to do is establish the agency and, from there, hold our conversations with provinces and territories around the ecosystem initiatives. I think one of the reasons Winnipeg was chosen as the headquarters is that it provides a bit more of a diverse view of fresh water across Canada, and of the various needs.

Environment committee  That's an important question. It's one we're just starting to work through. We're developing advice for the minister. We've had some conversations with the Assembly of First Nations. I've also reached out to the regional levels and organizations. I have started to engage with Métis.