Member Range Lake

Kieron Testart was elected to the 20th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly to represent the constituency of Range Lake.

Mr. Testart was born on March 22, 1985, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He was raised in the Northwest Territories, first residing in Tuktoyaktuk and later in Yellowknife, where Mr. Testart now lives with his family, his diverse background and wealth of experiences have shaped his commitment to community development and effective governance.

Mr. Testart was elected as Member of the Legislative Assembly for Kam Lake in the 18th Legislative Assembly, where he demonstrated a keen understanding of the issues facing his constituents. Beyond his legislative roles, Kieron has contributed significantly to the economic development of the region. Serving as the Director of Economic Development for the Yellowknives Dene First Nation from 2021 to 2023. Mr. Testart’s commitment to education and language advocacy is evident in his role as Program Coordinator for Canadian Parents for French from 2020 to 2021. His efforts have extended to policy analysis within the Government of the Northwest Territories and serving as Deputy Sheriff from 2009 to 2014.

Academically, Kieron holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from the University of Lethbridge (2004-2009) and a Certificate in Parliamentary Governance from McGill University (2017).

Married to Colleen, he is the proud father of Corbin, Eve, and Leander. In addition to his professional pursuits, Kieron finds joy in various hobbies and interests, including a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport, a love for film and theatre, grassroots activism, and an avid curiosity about international affairs.

Kieron's commitment to community extends beyond the political realm. As a dedicated volunteer, he has been actively involved in various capacities, including serving on the NWT Federal Liberal Association Board of Directors since 2011, contributing to the Liberal Party of Canada. His volunteer experience also includes a position on the NWT Branch Board of Directors for Canadian Parents for French from 2014 to 2020 and mentoring youth with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada in 2014-2015.

Range Lake Electoral District

Committees

Kieron Testart
Range Lake
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 61)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your committee would like to report on its consideration of Bill 26, the Statistics Act. Bill 26 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on October 29, 2018, and it was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for review.

To permit time for the legislative drafters to complete the proposed amendments, I would like to advise the House of the committee's wish to extend our review of the bill with the intention of reporting back to the House on or before March 11, 2019.

Therefore, Mr. Speaker, in accordance with rule 75(1)(c) of...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

Thank you. That would be helpful. Can the Minister commit to doing that, and further include to do more of a qualitative analysis of whether or not this procurement outreach is working? It is fine to log participants and meetings, but those are all output-based metrics. If we don't know that 200 participants is statistically important to easing understanding of our procurement policies within the business community, it is just a number. Can the department commit to putting more qualitative analysis towards this exercise and reporting on it annually, either in business plans or some other...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

If I could just get some information clarified: I heard both 60 participants and 200 participants for the last fiscal year. Which number is accurate? Thank you.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister seems to be answering questions that aren't being asked. Nobody is asking industry not to pay these rates. We're talking about the rates, and whether or not they can be rebalanced to be fairer, given the government's rate. Florists and yarn and fabric stores pay $2.50, again, compared to 88 cents. Will the Minister sit down with industry and have a meaningful conversation with them so that he can get a better understanding of what their concerns are? Quite clearly, he doesn't get it. Thank you.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Film Commissioner and the office around the Film Commissioner works very hard to do exactly that, and I think the additional support will be great, but marketing and bringing productions here is only half the equation. The way to expand the industry is to actually build that local production capacity so you can have creators and film crews and technicians and engineers and all those people who make movies permanently based here. That's the way we can diversify the economy as well. Local economies in regions that have been successful in this have always built very...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

I think we're well aware of the purpose of the commission. The Minister in response to the previous questions mentioned the GNWT rate which is about 93 cents. I just wonder if that applies across the board to all GNWT employees, all GNWT departments, regardless of the actual work being done? Is there only one rate for the Government of the Northwest Territories?

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

Thank you. I am not disagreeing 100 percent. I think that this is doing a good job. It's just that we could be doing an even better job, and of course, there were changes to SEED that have allowed the program to flow a bit more broadly throughout all of the regions of the territory. Doing the best job that we can with the available resources isn't doing better. We are looking at a future of recession. We are looking at economic hardship ahead. No one denies that. We should be using funding like this and resources like this that, A, we know work; B, we know that entrepreneurs are readily...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister. I very much appreciate that. If the results of this survey confirmed these concerns that have been brought forward today, is the Minister willing to go that extra distance and commit to at least exploring a possibility of adding more money into the program to address these shortfalls? Thank you.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

Thank you. Sorry, I wasn't looking for deficit numbers, but that is helpful. If the SEED fund had the available funding, what is the amount of applications that would have been approved under those conditions? Thank you.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 60)

I mentioned a number of concerns in my Member's statement, so I'll go through each one of them, but does ECE through the Minister currently have a plan to address the medical screening, or lack thereof, for children who are coming into these programs?