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 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we been working with the Town of Hay River and K'atlodeeche First Nation on things moving forward. In regards to mitigation, as long as there's a plan in place, then we're able to use our disaster assistance policy if the situation happens. The old adage is prepare for the worst and hope for the best. So we are working on that. The timeline, we're working with the town and the reserve, and it's with them. We have to be able to work with them to come up with a timeline. That's on their speed. We're not going to rush and do it wrong. As the Member...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I live down the street from the Member so I guess I've been there for 32 years too. So I appreciate that.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I can honestly say we've had this conversation with the Member, and I greatly appreciate him asking this question in the House.

All available public land can be viewed on Atlas, the department website management system. If that's a problem, they can go into the department and talk to the staff there and check the website itself and we are more than willing to help there. Commercial operations interested in public lands may work with land administration to determine the land availability as well. An application may submit lease applications for any...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department is not taking enforcement actions on potential rightsbased cabins at this time. The department is working with Indigenous governments on an approach to manage rightsbased cabins on public land. The department won't be defining Aboriginal rights through this process.

Mr. Speaker, it's about also selfidentifying. The individuals need to selfidentify. There was a process that's explained on the post, please come into the office and selfidentify. If they don't do that, then we do not know if it's a rightsbased cabin. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in the House to recognize and share some, I repeat some, amazing things about Ms. Joanne Deneron during her public life. I can say I have the pleasure of knowing her and have had some very amazing conversations with her since moving to Fort Simpson in 1992.

Mr. Speaker, Joanne is a resident of Fort Liard, is nominated for work and community leadership. Joanne has been selected for or elected to many positions in the community of Fort Liard where she served with distinction and gained recognition for her community, whether it was on the band or...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to I had about five pages of notes, but my colleagues took a whole bunch from me and I started crossing them off. I got down two pages.

Mr. Speaker, my first four years being in this as an MLA, I had the opportunity to work with Tim during that time. I can tell you the new 11 of us probably aged him about 30 years because, you know, Oceans 11, we kind of had a whole bunch of questions and he turned on the fire hose but we kept on throwing about 11 other fire hoses at him. So he was able to help us there.

I'm very thankful for having him here...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when we talk about Cranberry Crescent, so when we talk about mitigation, sometimes it's not about the berms; sometimes it's about the ability to move the furnace or the boiler up on to the next floor there on that. So we're working on that.

In regards to the question that the Member has asked, because the road wasn't impacted by the flood, we are now working with the community. We are actually doing a survey on that road and seeing how we can work with the federal government on other programs that are available. If we're able to access that funding, then...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I got six minutes and 28 seconds, so I'm going to take the time to answer this question.

Mr. Speaker, when the Member talks about maybe putting houses up eight to ten feet, I can tell you right now in other communities that had the same flooding the previous year in 2021, that's what we had to do. We had to put homes up eight to ten feet. In my riding, in Jean Marie River, we had to actually do that.

In regards to the question that the Member has asked, he's asked this numerous times in this House, we're looking at the various options available for the residents and...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, if the individuals do not want to talk to us and come into our lands, they can go in, talk to the Indigenous governments, and they can reach out to us. So we do have a process there.

In regards to his question, commercial operators occupying public land are required to have tenders. So they need to apply through a process. The department currently approached our the department's current approach to managing rightsbased cabins is not considering commercial harvesting or operations. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you. I guess I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and recognize my former boss. He was my Minister when I worked for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. And his great leadership for the stuff that we're able to do during that time working from them. And as an advisor and I say somebody that would be able to give you sound advice throughout the time of my first four years as a Member, and his wife for putting up with him being gone for so long, Judy; thank you for much for being here today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.