Member Nahendeh

Speaker

Shane Thompson was re-elected to the 20th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly after serving in the 18th and 19th Assemblies representing the constituency of Nahendeh. Mr. Thompson is the Honorable Speaker of the 20th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly.

Mr. Thompson was first elected to the 18th Assembly in November 2015 and served as Chair of the Standing Committee on Social Development. Mr. Thompson was also a member of the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning, the Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures, and the Striking Committee.

Mr. Thompson was born on July 11, 1963, in Hay River. He has lived in Kugluktuk (Coppermine), Inuvik, Hay River, and in Edmonton, while at the University of Alberta. Fort Simpson has been his home since 1992.

Mr. Thompson previously served two terms (three years each) as an elected official with the Fort Simpson District Education Authority, spending the last four years as the chairperson. Over the past 35 years, he has served on various community and territorial boards.

Mr. Thompson was employed as the Senior Sport and Recreation Coordinator with Municipal and Community Affairs (GNWT) in the Deh Cho region before being elected as a Member.

Mr. Thompson completed the Community Recreation Leaders Program at Arctic College in 1989 and is currently working on a Masters Certificate on Evaluation at the University of Victoria and Carleton University. He also completed three years towards an Education degree at the University of Alberta.

Mr. Thompson is an active volunteer with Northern Youth Aboard, CBET and Fundamental Movement, and HIGH FIVE®. As well, he is a past member of the Sport North Federation Board, NWT Softball and of NWTRPA, and the past president of Seven Spruce Golf Course.

Mr. Thompson is the father of seven children - five daughters and two sons – and has nine grandchildren.

He has been a Justice of the Peace since 1991.

Nahendeh Electoral District

Committees

Shane Thompson
Nahendeh
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Constituency Office

9706-100th Street
Fort Simpson NT X0E 0N0
Canada

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 94)

I thank the Member for her comment, and we'll make sure we get that messaging out there about the mobile zone.

So ENR becomes involved or notified of a potential infraction under the Wildlife Act. A renewable officer will initiate the investigation. If they believe that the animal was harvested illegally, they may then seize the caribou and start a legal process. While the investigation's underway, seized caribou are stored securely in a frozen state for evidence. As you are aware in the last budget, we are actually building another storage or building a place where we can store the seized...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 94)

Thank you, and I thank the Member for her questions. As we all are aware, the Bathurst caribou herd is facing serious conservation concerns and is currently at record low numbers. The government has worked closely with our wildlife comanagement partners to put a range of management actions in place to support the recovery of this herd. It is important to note that the Wildlife Act and the regulations differentiate between commercial hunts and outfitting hunting.

In 2006, ENR began to reduce the number of tags issued to outfitting numbers given the conservation concerns for the Bathurst herd.

Al...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 93)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Follow-up letter to Oral Question 79819(2), land ownership issues in small communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 93)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I tried to explain to the Member, there's CIP; there's gas tax and their water and sewer. On top of it, the community gives $30 million since 2007 for the operation of it. So they have this year, they got $2.27 million for the operation of their community. So on top of it, that's where the money is. Is there new money available? No. What the community has been able to do and as of today, and this is going to take a little bit of time and I apologize it might be a Minister's statement, but MACA staff have met with the Behchoko SAO, assistant SAO, and...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 93)

Thank you. And I give the Member credit for keep on asking the question. I've had numerous emails. I've had conversations with the Chief and that.

We give money through gas tax, CIP, and we work with the communities. Through the new deal, communities make decisions on where it is. We don't have any other money. There's no slush fund out there. So the answer, quickly, shortly, no. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 93)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said, the new deal started in 2007. So what was happening before that it was the government of the Northwest Territories were making decisions on what infrastructure was going to go into the communities. The new deal allowed the communities to make decisions. I fully support that. I think the communities make the good decisions based on the evidence they had.

In 2013, the department wrote a letter to the municipality saying you need to look at some of these decisions; here's a potential future problem that could happen. These things happen. We...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 93)

I think there was about four questions in there, but I'll try to answer them all, and if I miss, I apologize.

So the first is the funding in regards to each community have their infrastructure. In 2007, the Municipal and Community Affairs came up with a new deal. The new deal, the money is allocated by a funding formula and so since 2007 to 2022, the department gave Behchoko, in the community public infrastructure money, of just over $15 million, the gas tax funding of just over $10 million. And communities make decisions. They make priorities. So they have to make decisions on what they think...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 93)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with the 2022 Winter Olympics ending this past Sunday, like a lot of Canadians I spent a good part of my evenings watching various competition. It was amazing watching our Canadian athletes perform on the biggest stage.

As many are aware, Liam Gill represented Canada in the snowboarding halfpipe event. Liam is a proud descendant of a long line of Dene from the North and represent the Dehcho Dene as a member of Liidlii Kue First Nation. Upon hearing the news, I reached out his grandma to congratulate her on his accomplishment.

Like most Fort Simpson residents...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 92)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Al Reimer Award is given out yearly by Western Canada Water or commonly called WCW, not the wrestling company. This award was established to acknowledge an operator member of an organization who has provided distinguished service to the profession through the association and to the provincial operators association. Recipients have provided faithful and meritorious service to the field of public water and of water waste. Al Harris was recognized for his dedication to the water industry.

Nominations for the award traditionally comes from members of the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 92)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Operations Report 20202021 Western Canada Lottery Act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.