The scoping document is only the first step in the licensing process of the Manitoba Environment Act. Once the guidelines on scoping are final, supporters submit a TBEI to the EALB. The EIS is then subject to a public audit. Once the EIS review is complete, including any reloads or updates to the TBEI, a referral to the Manitoba Clean Environment Commission (CEC) is expected for public hearings. It is not yet known how to conduct a common federal/regional review or a body or hearings. Hydro President and CEO Bob Brennan added: “I am very pleased that the four Keeyask Cree Nations have ratified this agreement and look forward to the next steps in the project. This agreement represents a tremendous amount of hard work on the part of Manitoba Hydro staff and representatives of the Keeyask Cree Nations, and it is a very good thing that it is being done. The Keeyask Generation Project is a 695-megawatt dam with a 695-megawatt hydroelectric plant developed by the Keeyask Hydro Power Limited Partnership (between Manitoba Hydro and the four neighbouring Manitoba First Nations) on the Nelson River near Gull Rapids near Gillam, Manitoba. The objective of the side effects agreements, with some exceptions, is to fully address all of Keeyask`s past and future side effects on the Keeyask Cree Nations and their members resulting from the development and operation of the Keeyask project and predictable with due diligence at the time of signing. Minister Greg Selinger said: “This historic agreement represents a special milestone for the Keeyask Cree Nations, the Province of Manitoba and Manitoba Hydro, and it is extremely exciting to see how all parties involved are taking the next step towards the Keeyask Generating Station project. I am pleased to be here today in Split Lake, where the first agreement in 2000 between tataskweyak Cree Nation and Manitoba Hydro established the partnership model we know today. The CEC will make its recommendations on licensing in its report, which is expected 120 days after the end of its hearings in Keeyask.