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

Shane Thompson
Nahendeh
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Constituency Office

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

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 12)

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for that clarification. So are we going to be going to 17.3 per cent from junior kindergarten to grade 12, or is it going to be a different number? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 12)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I've got to come back to this inclusive schooling thing so that I can get a clearer understanding of it. The 17.5 per cent is based on kindergarten to grade 12, and with junior kindergarten, you are putting $881,000 into the program. Is this correct? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 12)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On page 33, contract services went down to $780,000. Can the Minister explain what the change is between 20172018 and 20182019? There is a difference of $107,000.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 12)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for that long-winded answer about working with us on the other side of the table. You know, that hallway works both ways. You can actually walk down to our side, too, and when we bring it up, you can actually talk to us about it. I am a little concerned with your answer there, but I will go on to my next question.

Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss not to point out the NWT Societies Act has provisions that clearly articulate that an NGO can be deemed as a corporation by way of registration, yet the BIP application process does not recognize this law...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 12)

I thank the Minister for his answer. I am not arguing that it is the best in the world, but we have some problems with it. Let's be honest here. We heard last week that we had problems, and this week we are bringing problems here again, Mr. Speaker.

To be clear, under our current GNWT procurement process, NGOs are excluded from our BIP process. Mr. Speaker, I can certainly see how this can be seen as a level playing field. Can the Minister indicate by what process or methodology do NGOs compete fairly versus a private business in our RFP procurement process?

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 12)

Thank you Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, without question, non-governmental organization, or NGOs, provide essential and cost-effective services to the people of the Northwest Territories. These NGOs are sometimes a product of community-minded individuals who care about giving back to their fellow citizens, while other NGOs are creations of specialized services. What these NGOs contribute in taxpayer savings is hard to qualify, but it's sufficient to say that they can do much more with less than the GNWT can on any given day.

Mr. Speaker, last week in the House there was a heated exchange of...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 12)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Hopefully, this will be my last question on this page here. Has the department broken down this money, how they are going to allocate these funds? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 12)

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for that answer. I think probably some of my colleagues are going to have some other questions for that. I am going to go on to my next item here. You heard in my reply to the budget that we talked about new career and academic counselling positions. I have looked through the main estimates, and I am trying to understand. Where is it in this business plan? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 12)

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for that correction. I apologize. I did say 17.5. I wrote it down wrong.

In the future, is this number going to stay as a base number? I am hearing you say that it is going to be based on enrolment. I know right now you say it's 15 per cent you're legislated. You're at 17.3, plus the $881,000. My first question is: what is the percentage that we are actually putting into inclusive schooling now with $881,000? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 12)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just to clarify, if the company is coming in and we are going to save some money, why aren't we hiring more people to save more money if we are trying to reduce this area? Thank you, Mr. Chair.