Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Standing Committee on Social Development concluded its review of Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Social Assistance Act, on September 27, 2018, with a public hearing held at the Legislative Assembly building. No public submissions were received concerning this bill. The committee supports the changes contained in the bill as outlined by the Minister. Individual Members may have additional comments or questions as we proceed with the consideration of this bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, before I get into my Member's statement, I would like to inform the House that I am going to be out of the House on Tuesday to Thursday for personal issues. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, during my visit to the communities of Fort Liard and Wrigley, the chiefs were questioning why the GNWT is charging members or looking at charging band members who have traditional cabins $840 per year. This goes against Treaty 11. The chiefs were able to share with me the Report of The Commissioner for Treaty No. 11, dated October 12, 1921. The author of the report was D.C. Scott...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Standing Committee on Social Development concluded its review of Bill 14, the Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2018, on September 27, 2018, with a public hearing held at the Legislative Assembly building.

So-called "housekeeping bills" such as these ensure that territorial legislation is subject to regular review for consistency and accuracy. A minor amendment was made at the committee clause-by-clause review and was concurred with by the Minister. Following the committee's review, a motion was carried to report Bill 14, the Miscellaneous Statute Law...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the Minister taking my well-being into account, and I appreciate that. I thank him very much. So, when we talk about unauthorized occupancy, traditional cabins are not unauthorized occupancy. That is a right. So is the government looking at asking them to actually get leases after it's all said and done?

I thank the Minister for that answer. My understanding is he is going to get a list to us, to myself, anyway, to show me whom he has been talking to in the Nahendeh riding. I must apologize to the Minister; the information sheet. Well, I guess it's the information. So will the Minister be willing to provide that information to us so we can share it with the residents of the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and if the Minister is confused, now I'm going to get confused, because he's the one who told me they were going to do this information sheet. So if he doesn't know what it is, we are in real deep trouble here. So will the Minister tell me exactly when that information sheet is going to be out, given to us, so we can share it with our constituents? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I appreciate the Minister undertaking to get that information to us. My big question, again, is: there are six communities, and if we're only going to be meeting X number of them, is the government going to pay to have these people come in? Or are they going to the communities?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that answer. However, this is their traditional land, not the Government of the Northwest Territories. This is traditional lands of the First Nations. This is their land. Now, we're sitting here saying they've got to come to the government and explain it? Will the Minister commit to providing the information sheet that we can share with our residents so they can understand the process, not just speaking here in the House but we can get some information out to the residents so we can help them? Right now, they're not unauthorized. They're on...

I thank the Minister for that answer. Mr. Speaker, though, we are talking regional, but we are talking about individual cabin owners, so can the Minister advise how cabin owners are being informed about the process to identify what type of occupancy their cabins are on?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Standing Committee on Social Development concluded its review of Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Student Financial Assistance Act, on September 27, 2018, with a public hearing held at the Legislative Assembly building. Committee received no submissions from the public. Committee supports the government's change to extend the terms of appeal board members and broaden the qualifications necessary for the position of student representative. Individual Members may have additional comments or questions as we proceed with consideration of this bill. Thank you, Mr...