Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, on page 39, it has the NWT-BC border development. Can the Minister advise what the status is? I have seen this in last year's capital, and I am trying to understand what stage it is at and if it is going to be completed this year or if it's not. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the department. I greatly appreciate the work they are doing there, and it is great to hear some positive steps towards that. Every time I go in there, there is that one soft spot that I have to slow down and go less than 20 kilometres an hour sometimes, and I do follow the speed limits that are posted there by the Minister.

My other question is just in regards to the Nahanni Butte, their certified winter road. They use it year-round, except for breakup and freeze-up. Can the Minister advise if the department is able to work with them to put some money to it...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the answer from the Minister. That's good to hear. At least it's a break-even and giving our firefighters some very-much-needed training. The Minister talked about some different crews and them going out and doing work during the fire season because it was not that bad. Can the Minister advise this House, here, what the crew for Fort Liard did during that time?

Thank you, and I appreciate the Minister's commitment to capital work. Caps are talking $50,000, and I think it is going to be a little bit more work than just $50,000 for the two of the hills. We are also talking about trying to make these hills a little bit more safer.

I will, again, work with the community to talk about the cap project, but will the Minister commit to looking at that, and if that is not feasible, if he can get his regional staff to work with the community to help them fill out the application? Specifically, the demands on the band manager are huge. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

So can the Minister advise us how much of that funding came back? Because we paid our workers and for our equipment, so how much money is that coming back to the NWT, what percentage money-wise? What percentage is coming back?

Thank you. I think that is from the border in? It's not from the Simpson junction moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the Minister's commitment in moving forward, because that is very important. Those two committees are very important. The advisory committee has a regional and territorial voice, and then the academic advisory council, that there is new, something that's new, and I think it would be very beneficial as we move forward through our post-secondary. So in the meantime, what is going to happen? Who is going to replace the advisories? Is it still going to be the public administrator? Is that person still going to be in place, being the voice of the NWT at this...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister provide that information to us so that I know exactly where? I do have a map, and it has those numbers, but I am not too sure where those numbers are. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I appreciate the answer from the Minister. How long is this going to take, then? If we are talking about a vision, and I strongly believe we should be starting that here in the House, talking to committee and other Members to see where it is, but when will we be able to have this person in place to start this process?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When I first got elected, we talked about consensus and what it means. I have had the pleasure of living all my life in the Northwest Territories and watching consensus government work. I have been in meetings where a decision was made, and an elder come up or somebody else come up and asked for clarification and brought their viewpoint to a place. That is what is, to me, true consensus government as you work forward and move forward to this.

I had the opportunity to go back home and talk to my constituents about this very issue. Their first question was: "What do you want...