Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to attend part of the previous NWTAC and LGANT AGM. Part of the agenda was their awards ceremony. NWTAC was pleased to present the first of two 2022 community service awards. The first award winner was Soham Srimani. They spoke about his commitment, drive, and creative skills that has nurtured the community of Nahanni Butte. Through his administrative efforts and drive, the community has received funding for various projects, some which include housing projects, infrastructure projects, tourism, and marketing projects. All of this has...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, second by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 78, Waste Reduction and Resource Recovery Act, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned previously or mentioned before, most of the contaminant sites that this guideline applies to occur on private lands within the communities. The site remediation process is primarily between the owner of the residence or business and the environment and climate change officer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the guidelines has existed in the NWT since 2003 and has now been updated. The guidelines is one of the many tools under the Environmental Protection Act that is administered by ECC. The guideline describes the general contaminant sites remediation process. Although not legally binding, it sets soil, surface water, and groundwater quality standards for the site remediation to act in compliance with the Environmental Protection Act. Most of the contaminant sites that the guidelines apply to occur on private lands within communities. And in these cases...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I apologize to the Member. I may have missed his first part of the question. But I believe what he's talking about is asking when will we get the hamlet back up to be elected council.

As soon as we can address this deficit as we move forward, get the governance and everything in there. We want to be able to have an elected council that is actually on a clean slate. So once that is done and we're able to do that, we will make sure we have an elected council representing the people. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when we did put a Minister in there, I did contact the MLA and explain that we would be doing this. Mr. Speaker, the first thing that the Minister had to do was find out about the deficit. Right now, we're at $2.5 million, and we're still looking into the situation. So that there is part of the situation. The other part of the situation is this past summer, we've had, you know, fires, evacuations. The South Slave staff has been pretty busy dealing with that, but we now have them back in and we will be working with them on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT is aware of the waterrelated concerns of Athabasca, Chipewyan, and the Mikisew Cree First Nation and Fort Chip Metis Nation. The GNWT has collaborated with members from these First Nations through the PeaceAthabasca Delta Ecological Monitoring Program as well as the fish monitoring camps and watering sample. The GNWT regularly communicates with NWT Indigenous governments to share information about the transboundary water, including Kearl spill and seepage through direct contact as well as through regular dialogue with the Indigenous steering committee with the...

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Member for the question. The GNWT understands and shares the concerns that Indigenous governments and all NWT residents have for our shared waters. This spill and seepage has been a priority for me and this government. The GNWT, in collaboration with the Fort Smith Metis Council, Smith Landing First Nation, and the Town of Fort Smith, collected weekly water quality samples to track potential impacts of the incident upstream and address human health concerns until early summer of 2023 with the regular water sampling schedule resumed. Primary...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the cost of living challenges have been raised by Northwest Territories residents and Members of the Legislative Assembly in both the 18th and 19th Legislative Assemblies One of those challenges is rent for residential and recreational public land leases, including those that support traditional harvesting activities. The lease rent minimum increased to $840 annually for residential and recreational leases in the last Legislative Assembly, implemented over the last five years, has proven to be challenging for many residents given our current economic...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, second by the honourable Member from Yellowknife South, that Bill 74, the Forest Act, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.