Shane Thompson

Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member of Yellowknife South that Bill 66, An Act to Amend the Property Assessment and Taxation Act, be read for the second time.

This bill makes several amendments to the Property Assessment and Taxation Act. The bill adjusts and clarifies certain definitions. It also gives the director of assessments greater authority in respect of first assessment orders, corrections to the rolls, and carrying out supplementary assessments.

The bill updates provisions respecting municipal boards of revision, territorial boards of...

So I got two minutes and five seconds to go here? Just joking. I'm make a commitment again. I thought I made a commitment to the second question. But, yes, I will go to the Member's I'll go with the other Ministers as well. I think the Member is doing a great job, and I'm more than willing to work with his communities on this. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

No. I'm just joking. Yes, so the process is very much communitydriven. The community needs to reach out to the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, the sport and recreation and youth coordinators. They do work out to them. And start working on it, working together. The staff is available. I can tell you from my experience in 1994 when I became the recreation development officer, I started working on the Mackenzie Rec Association, and it is a very valid organization, and so is the BDSRA. It was a very valid organization. It addressed some of the things that the Member talked about...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Municipal and Community Affairs does provide funding for 36 youth centres across the Northwest Territories under the Youth Initiative Program. We contribute about $14,000 to each facility to support their operations. MACA is committed to establishing an interdepartmental working group on youth to provide the GNWT a forum that will be able to coordinate youth programs and services to support local community priorities. And that's part of the youth strategy that we're working on.

However, the question that the Member asked, if there's a community that wishes to establish...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, this program continues to support children, primarily from the age of 0 to 5, for program opportunities to support physical literacy, an important part of development in long you know, lifelong active lifestyles. As I said previous in the other question, I can commit to work with the department and committee during the main review to consider future funding for this program. It is very important. It does some really good benefits. It starts at a young age and the work that's done in the community. So, yes, I will work with committee to review this...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, again, it just reverts to the first question. When the Member reached out to me, we had a conversation and we looked at their oneyear proposal. And one of the things we talked about was we need to expand it. We can expand it for up to three years. So I guess I can commit to a new multithreeyear agreement with the Kole Crook Fiddle Association on top of the one year we already got right now. The association submitted a proposal. We're going back and forth to fix up the second and third year again. So again, I would like to confirm that we are working on...

Thank you, and I thank the Member for that. I'm really good at TV control, the stereo. I can play the fiddle perfectly that way. I can actually find it on YouTube. I started out very young trying the fiddle, and I was told to go play sports. So I enjoy it. I enjoy the fiddle, but yeah, that's all I can say. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, with COVID pandemic moving to an endemic we are seeing the closure of events moving to opening of events. I'm happy to advise the House that Open Sky hosted its 20th festival at the beginning of September. I was able to partake in some of the events during the September long weekend. The festival is usually celebrated annually, and this was the first festival since 2019 and the beginning of the COVID pandemic.

They celebrated with a weekend full of workshops, vendors, and music. For this special festival they chose the theme of "Deh Cho Boogie" with a...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 67, An Act to Amend the Fire Prevention Act, be read for the second time.

This bill amends the Fire Prevention Act to

add a liability exclusion provision for fire officials;

authorize the fire marshals to delegate their duties and powers;

make any requirements made in a plan review report by the fire marshal to be binding as orders;

establish a plan review appeal board and mechanism for an appeal of plan reviews made by the fire marshal instead of an immediate recourse to the Supreme...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents: Plain Language Summary for Bill 66, An Act to Amend the Property Assessment and Taxation Act; Plain Language Summary for Bill 67, An Act to Amend the Fire Prevention Act; and, Northwest Territories 911 20212022 Annual Report. Thank you, Madam Speaker.