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 , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 62)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have heard the Minister beat the dead horse, but this is a new thing that we, as the Government of the Northwest Territories, are imposing onto the municipal governments. I appreciate the Minister, understanding that we have short resources and that, but we have to make sure that we are prepared. I am hoping, and I am going to take the Minister's word for it, that we are actually going to start looking at this, to develop a course that people are able to take. That will be my last question. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 62)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My first question is: is the department still focusing its efforts on a pilot project with Fort Providence, Tulita, and Ulukhaktok, and how is the work proceeding? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 62)

Thank you. I understand that you can't make a commitment, but I was hoping that it would be a budget line in future years moving down there.

Can the Minister tell us how much is going to be moving forward with the supplemental, or is it going to be in a calculation going forward? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 62)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have one comment, and then one question in this area here.

First of all, I would like to commend the department for making progress on long-overdue legislation updates and that you have completed Bill 1, the Western Canada Lottery Act; Bill 8, Emergency Management Act; Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Cities, Towns and Villages Act; and you are now close to doing 911. I am very happy with that. It has been long overdue, and I give kudos to the department and the staff for doing a great job on that there.

Departmental consultations with partners in the development of...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 62)

I think I missed how many cases are out there, not the waiting lists, but I'll go on to my next question. It is my understanding that the department is not looking at placing a speech and language pathologist and occupational therapist position in the Deh Cho. Can the Minister explain how we are going to improve services in this area?

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 62)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, my favourite topic with this department, multi-sport games, I think I have asked this question every business plan here. Again, it is disappointing to see that there is no appropriation for multi-sports games in this budget. Will the department be providing any funding in this moving forward? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 62)

Thank you. I am assuming this is where we would be talking about the Auditor General's report and from previous. So MACA agreed with the number of recommendations and made commitments to do a number of things, including reviewing and improving contribution agreements by April 2017 and consult with INAC. What has the department done to implement the OAG's findings with respect to designated authorities in these contribution agreements? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Each year, through the Fire Service Merit Awards, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs recognizes individual firefighters and fire departments for the important work they do in our communities.

Previously, the community of Fort Simpson has seen this award go to Roger Pilling and Scott Withmore. In true Fort Simpson fashion, it is no surprise that this award is presented to another Simpsonite.

The 2018 NWT Fire Service Merit Award was awarded to Steve Nichol for his contribution as volunteer firefighter on the Fort Simpson fire department. He continues to...

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thought that the on-the-land healing was new federal funding, but we have taken $200,000 from mental health and addictions and put it into on-the-land healing? What was the rationale for that decision to move that? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess that I will have to kind of disagree with the Minister on that. I understand that other departments are doing that, but those are the other departments. I would have hoped that the government would have put a little bit more money in there from this department.

I know that we did work with the committee last year and the department on that. Will the Minister be looking at that or the department looking at that for not this budget but the next one, if we continue to see this increase or demand of $4 million worth of requests? Thank you, Mr. Chair.