Shane Thompson

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

Nahendeh
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Email
Extension
11128
Constituency Office

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

Phone

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 83)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we're not trying to shortchange people. We're trying to work with the municipal governments. We're all learning as we move forward. Like I said, we've given the community of Tuk over what I think was $213,506 that they can use to help deal with this COVID. If there's some deficiencies or there's some challenges, I just need their leadership to work with their SAO to reach out to our regional superintendent.

Now if it's a COVID Secretariat, she is able to work with that. If it's a health is there, if it's a municipal and community affairs, she's able to...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 83)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Member for this question.

So the Government of the Northwest Territories gave the community $213,506. We gave that money to the community, and they could use it for however they see fit. If they were going to use check stops and they wanted to do that, that money could be used there.

We didn't ask for an inventory checklist or invoice, receipts, and that. We gave the money to them to help them deal with the COVID situation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 83)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on July 22nd, the community of Nahanni Butte lost a respected Elder, William Konisentia.

William was born at Netla on September 23, 1943. He was the second eldest child in the family of Joseph and Margaret Konisentia. He was raised in the Netla River area until families were relocated to Nahanni Butte in the early 1960's. The family was happy with this move as this is where William met his sweetheart and future wife Bella Matou. On May 18, 1967, they got married in the log-built church.

They were very fortunate to have six children. They enjoyed life together...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 83)

I'd like to thank the Member for asking these questions. I think these are questions I asked weekly with the staff on it.

So the status is basically we've been working on it. For the homes that we're able to repair, we're hoping to having everything as of December 17th. For the ones that may or may not be back into their home, we brought in a camp. So we have two camps. One for the Elders, and one for the family. When we were asking the community about getting a camp in there, we gave them some options. They provided the option -- they selected the options, and that's why the camp we have set...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 83)

Thank you. First of all, I'd like to thank the Member for touring my riding. It was greatly appreciated. And the community of Jean Marie greatly appreciated him stopping in to sit there. I also have to give a shout out to the Member from Hay River South. He was very much involved in that as well.

So in regards to how much money we spent right now, presently, as of September 30th -- sorry, I just had a mental block there -- we spent $1.7 million for the flood recovery for activities in there. We are projecting that the total for the 2021-2022 fiscal year, we'll spend approximately about $6...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 81)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I agree that we are in a climate change crisis. We've been in it over 15 years. So I'm not saying anything new. When I was at the opportunity to attend Scotland, that was the climate change, we talked about it. Everybody was talking about when it was going to happen. This is the reality. The sad part about it I found even more frustrating is I had to educate Canadians. Canadians weren't understanding our challenges that we face day-to-day.

So in saying that, though, as for the net zero 50 -- in 2050, unless we get more money from the federal government, we're in...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 81)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Quick answer, no, I'm not going to revisit it. The flood that happened in Fort Simpson and Jean Marie. You listen to the historical history from our elders there, I had an elder who is very much a supporter of mine who gives me advice, and when we were sitting there talking about the flood in Fort Simpson, he said oh, don't worry about it, Shane, it's never ever happened. Then he went, oops, it happened. That is the reality of it.

And the Member talks about working with Indigenous governments. We are very much working with Indigenous governments. We're talking with the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 81)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I should reiterate, the community developed the plan in 2007 with the help of Municipal and Community Affairs. They reached out to Municipal and Community Affairs and asked to be part of it, asked them to be part of it so they could develop it. In 2017, the community went and redid the plan. They did it, not the federal government or GNWT. It was the community that dealt with it, and then in 2017 it's my understanding it's still the same Chief that is presently there now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 81)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Mary Bonnetrouge known as Bernice was born on September 17, 1957 to Xavier and the late Marie Bonnetrouge. She was the eldest daughter of the family. She passed away on June 2nd, 2021, after a long battle with her sickness.

She grew up in Fort Providence where she attended school and was a very happy child and a favorite among many in the community. She lived in Yellowknife and in Fort Simpson, which became her home for over 20 plus years with her partner Barney Ryan.

Shortly upon her arrival in Fort Simpson, she earned a Slavey nickname which translates to...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 81)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Follow-Up Letter of Oral Question 754-19(2), Lottery Revenue for Hay River Sporting Organization. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.