Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Infrastructure in Fort Simpson really should be commended for the work that they are doing to build capacity of residents in Nahendeh. They are hiring local residents and providing the requisite training to obtain the skills, knowledge, and ability to do the job competently.

Mr. Speaker, I have personally heard positive feedback from community members and visitors alike of the exceptional service done by these young people. A prime example of this are the following Fort Simpson residents who were hired as deck hands on the MV Lafferty in 2017: Ivor...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. First of all, I am going to support the motion. I took offence by the Minister saying there was no consultation process. I sit here and I have looked at it. If there needs to be changes and there needs to be some work done, there are some conversations and there are some changes and there are some recommendations. I didn't see any of this. What I saw was the report. The committee did a really good job, and here we go. It is about the people of the Northwest Territories. It is not about the industry.

It concerns me that we are listening to a lobbyist group. We had a...

I guess we should just tell our students to quit going to school, or go down south and don't come back, because that's what some of the students are saying, is that they cannot afford what they're getting with this assessment. When we do these assessments, as I said, I had a student who got $120. It's not that she has an elaborate rent, or anything like that; it's not because she's eating five-star meals. This is what her struggle was. She was looking at about $850, then it went down to $120. So this is the problem.

If the department is going to do calculations, then a minimum amount needs to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently, I had an issue brought to my attention about Student Financial Assistance. After doing my own research, I have some questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Mr. Speaker, some students exhaust all their remissible loans or supplementary grants. They end up needing to access student loans, which need to be paid back. In speaking with students, they don't have any issue with that. However, there seems to be a roadblock in the way. It's called an assessment of a student's income. I had one student after getting reassessed only get $120 per...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, I would like to thank the Minister for his answers here today. I guess I am trying to understand the budgeting process and getting it out there, so can the Minister provide us information on how much money is allocated for foster caring, maybe not here today but provide it to us later on so that we can have a better understanding of the money that is put into this? Because, if we see a shortfall in it, then maybe it's something that we need to look at to help improve our foster cares out there.

That is great to hear. Again, I am looking at the territories and trying to see how we help recognize our foster parents, and it's great that a coalition does that, but sometimes the coalition does not exist in some of these smaller communities, that I am aware of. Has the department looked at recognizing these foster parents, especially on Mother's Day, Father's Day, like even a small gift like a box of chocolates or a card?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday I spoke about a pay it forward program in Fort Simpson. Today I would like to speak about a second program established in the region. It is largely in part to Mr. Troy Bellefontaine. In the summer of 2016, Troy began researching Dolly Parton's Imagination Library and, in November 2017, he began accepting registration for this literacy program.

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library is a program that sends one book a month to children between the ages of zero months to five years. The program is partly dependent on donations, as the cost is $3.55 per child per...

In light of the fuel supplier's responsibility in providing fuel that did not meet the specifications required by the department, I'd like to ask the Minister: what sort of recourse is available? Will the GNWT be able to be reimbursed for the cost of the fuel and for sending it back?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently, I have been hearing rumours and concerns about the MTS fuel resupply from last year. It is my understanding that some of last year's fuel supply that was delivered to the shipyard in Hay River is apparently bad fuel. I'd like to ask the Minister of Infrastructure if he can tell us what happened in this situation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the response from the Minister. Again, Mother's Day, Father's Day, just a small appreciation for the great work that these folks do, and, again, I think they are the most amazing people. They open their own homes to look after our youth in difficult times. Does the department budget for such activities in their yearly budget? When you talk about the coalition, do we give them money to help them provide this kind of service?