Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my left is Glen Rutland, clerk of the Legislative Assembly. On my right -- and I apologize if I say his last name wrong -- Alex Mulooki, acting deputy clerk, Member and precinct services.

Yes, I do. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to present the 2025-2026 Main Estimates for the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly.

The proposed budget for the 2025-2026 is an expenditure of $25.446 million, revenue of $15,000 and infrastructure investments of $500,000. The budget of $25.446 million reflects a decrease of $1.5 million. The operations expenditure of $25.446 million, reflects a decrease of $1.5 million (6 percent) compared to the 2024-2025 Budget.

This reduction is primarily attributed to the total decrease of $1.98 million in pension contributions which includes a shift to...

Please be seated. Good afternoon. Colleagues, welcome back to the House. It is great to be back and that was a great way to open our sitting.

I'd like to thank Ryan Gordon for his wonderful bagpiping today. That's not something we get to enjoy every day. I'd also like to thank elder Jonas Lafferty for his opening blessing. Please join me in thanking them for the wonderful start to this sitting.

I'm also pleased to welcome our pages to the chamber. Our youth are our future, and we are fortunate to have them with us. This week we will have pages from Yellowknife and next week we will also be...

Good afternoon, Colleagues. I am going to advise you this is going to be a very difficult Celebration of Life to do.

Avery Julianna Burke was born on May 4th, 2018, at the BC Women's Hospital to Maureen Deneron and Preston Burke. She was the third youngest of four siblings. She spent her first two years of her life in Fort Nelson, BC, before moving to Sambaa K'e with her grandmother, Bertha Deneron.

Avery loved being with her grandmother. She was a great help to her grandmother. She loved helping do dishes, folding clothes, all the while singing away to the various songs. Her favorite music was...

Please be seated. I'd like to thank Marc Casaway for doing the blessing today.

Colleagues, last session, I spoke about a startup Basketball Program in Fort Liard. Today, I would like to add to the story.

Corbin Wilson is a 17-year-old Fort Liard student who was selected to play on the Basketball NWT team that travelled to the Nationals tournament held in Toronto in August. This is quite an accomplishment for Corbin who started to play basketball regularly less than a year ago. He was one of a group of boys who began playing on the Fort Liard outside court and with one hoop back in the summer of 2023. The boys evolved into the Fort Liard Warriors, Fort Liard's first...

Colleagues, a resident of Fort Simpson, David Berman, has a family heirloom being donated to the children of Liidli Kue Elementary School. David's mother, Carole Berman, purchased a 1974 Yamaha grand piano nearly 45 years ago. She always enjoyed playing the piano and recounting that her and her four sisters studied music from a very young age in Winnipeg, as her parents believed that creative arts were just as important as academics.

As she matured and started a family of her own, she purchased her prized possession and began teaching piano. This gave her a chance to earn a little money while...

Thank you. Please be seated. I'd like to thank Joe Otokiak for doing the opening prayer.

I'd like to thank Mary Jane Cazon for the blessing today.

Colleagues, approximately 25 years ago, the Seven Spruce Golf Club decided that they should come up with a four-person best ball tournament. After thinking about this idea, the executive asked two members to reach out to various businesses in the community and surrounding areas. One of the businesses they reached out to, was the owner of Kingland. He directed them to speak to the parts manager, and since that meeting the partnership has grown. It started out being called the Seven Spruce Four Person Best Ball Tournament, sponsored by Kingland Ford, then it was changed to the Kingland Ford Four...