Shane Thompson

Good afternoon. Please join me in thanking elder Sarah Cleary for her opening words and blessing today.

February is Indigenous language month and I look forward to hearing these languages spoken each day. Before we begin, I want to acknowledge the tragedy that took place in Fort Smith on January 23rd. A plane crash claimed the lives of six Northerners, leaving one survivor. Our residents and communities are connected to one another. When one community hurts, we all hurt. But the reverse holds true. When a community needs healing, we come together to help heal. It is my hope that Fort Smith and...

Good afternoon, colleagues. The Kole Crook Fiddle Association held its 19th Annual Fiddle Jamboree in Fort Simpson. We witnessed 55 fiddlers from six communities across the NWT who braved the 47° cold snap. They ranged in age from 6 to 16 years. We had several adults who joined in as well. Classes were offered for firsttimers all the way up to advanced. They were joined by seven amazing fiddle instructors from across Canada and NWT. Some were former graduates of the association. The participants jigged, squaredanced, fiddled, and sang. They learned lots of new tunes and made many new friends...

I guess I'm supposed to recognize former Members in the House here; I'd like to recognize Cabinet Minister -- former Minister Paulie Chinna from the Sahtu, and my favorite MLA from Hay River South, presently, Mr. Rocky Simpson. So welcome to our Chamber.

Thank you, Members, for the trust you have afforded me as your Speaker. So far in our preliminary meetings as the 20th Assembly, I can tell this group is thoughtful, solution orientated, and most of all motivated to make this territory the best it can be be. It will be my honour to serve as Speaker for the 20th Assembly of the Northwest...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I stand here to support the motion. Mr. Speaker, I was struggling on what to say here, especially after what's been going on the last little while. However, I'm going to stick to what we're here to talk about today.

We came up with a tool that was to deal with MLA's Code of Conduct issues without having to spend tons and tons of money and doing an inquiry. We used that tool. I used that tool.

Mr. Speaker, when you look at the rule of law and order, MLAs are not above anybody else. We need to lead by example. That is our role. Mr. Speaker, we have...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Strategic Oil and Gas Limited has been under receivership since 2020, and the receiver is legally responsible for managing the site and all regulatory requirements. The receiver reports to the Alberta Court of King's Bench. The land and water board approved conceptional closure and reclamation plan in 2020. A revised closure and remediation plan with other work at the sites is required by June of 2024. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to take 16 minutes and 5 seconds to answer this question. I guess I can't. Mr. Speaker, phase 1 of the environmental assessment site assessments were completed on 20 wells. Inspection of the sites were conducted by GNWT and OROGO. Most of the production and significant discovery licenses have been surrendered. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, due to this fire season, we actually brought ten retirees back in. Seven of them were Indigenous people. So most of these people, actually of those ten, were incident commanders. So they were actually the ones that were working on the fires. They were the ones giving the direction, how they were going to fight the fires. So we were able to do that. But I had an opportunity to talk to one in Fort Smith and a couple in Yellowknife and as well as one in Hay River. And I talked to them about the work there. And they appreciated that, you know, that they were...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Member for the question. NWT fire crews type 1 firefighters, we had 34 crews, which is 12 person crews, for 136 extra firefighters, EFFs were 324, for a total of 460. So if you look at the breakdown of Indigenous populations of the BeauDel was 89 percent. Deh Cho was 100 percent. North Slave was 100 percent. Sahtu was 99 percent. And the South Slave was 97 percent. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a return to oral question asked by the Member for Monfwi on September 27th, 2023, regarding fire management policies effect on Indigenous culture.

The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is in the process of gathering information from departments, community governments, and other jurisdictions on the actual costs to date. Anticipated projections of the evacuation and fire mitigation measures will be reported to the finance management board in the Standing Committee on Government Operations on a quarterly basis. Until this information is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to announce that after several months of engagement and collaboration with territorial and regional sport organizations, the NWT Active Living Framework 20232033 has been approved. The intent of the framework is to guide the investment of public funds to support the development of recreation sports and physical activity priorities for NWT residents.

Work on the NWT Active Living Framework 20232033 began prior to the COVID19 pandemic following amendments to the Western Canada Lottery Act. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has...