A land exchange between the RM of Grahamdale, Lake St. Martin First Nation, and Little Saskatchewan First Nation is slowly being completed.

"Right now we've got seven ward boundaries, with seven councillors," says Reeve Clifford Halaburda. "The transfers are in process or being processed, and we're going to lose many acres of land. So we wouldn't need seven wards anymore, we'd downsize to six or maybe less. It's something we're just discussing."

Halaburda says the federal government is already building on parts of the land. "There are roughly 20,000 acres going to be taken from the municipality and transferred over to the First Nations, and it's 20,000 acres-plus, but we're starting out at 20,000."

He adds it's always tough to tell how the people will react to something like this. "On one hand, they (the ratepayers) are always in favour for downsizing, for one we're not spending as much money. But they'll also be watching because if we lose a big chunk of land it reduces our tax base. That is something that no one will be happy with, but it will be what it's going to be."

There is no timeline for a completion of the transfer, but Halaburda says it is a definite.