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 5)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as you heard in my Member's statement today, I had the pleasure of having the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources and of Finance and the deputy minister, Dr. Dragon, Superintendent Lafferty, and Officer Sabourin do a Nahendeh riding tour. It was really good, and the people really enjoyed it, so my questions to the Minister of ENR are about this trip. During the trip, we heard concerns regarding the rules and regulations as it pertains to hunting on the road corridor. There seemed to be some confusion about what was allowed and not allowed. Mr...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 5)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I would like to thank the department's regional staff. They do a great job of communicating and working with the communities. Like most trips, Mr. Speaker, you have things that happen to you personally, and you get to learn from these experiences. This trip was no different. I would like to share learning opportunities, but I would like to ask the Minister: what did he learn from this travelling in the Deh Cho during it and gassing up his own vehicle? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 5)

I thank the Minister for that great answer. However, he drove on the road in the wintertime, and as he talked to the former MLA, he said, "Come drive it in the summertime," so we will get the Minister of Infrastructure to come with you and we will see how it is. However, it is good, and I have to say the workers are doing a great job maintaining it. Previously in the House I spoke about the possibility of the department working with Aboriginal leadership to come up with a plan to stop the hunting of cow moose for at least the next five years to help improve the moose population. Mr. Speaker, I...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 5)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to welcome everybody back for the third session as we work for the residents of the Northwest Territories and look forward to the next six weeks. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recap and highlight some of the things that I have done since our last sitting.

This past November, the various standing committees had the opportunity to review and discuss the business plans of all of the departments as we prepared for the 2018-2019 budget. I would like to thank the Ministers and their staff and look forward to the debate and discussion for the budget this year.

Mr...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 4)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends, should the Government of the Northwest Territories consider change to the daylight savings time regulation in the future, that it engages with its counterparts in Alberta and undertake both broad, public, and targeted stakeholders' engagement. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 4)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, stand up here to support this motion. I have had the pleasure of knowing Doug since way back when, playing sports. I considered him a friend, even though we were from Hay River and Yellowknife, and we had some really heated battles on the sports field. After that, it was a really good friendship.

One thing I'm going to really be thankful now is that now he can call me "Shane" instead of "Mr. Thompson" every time he talks to me. His professionalism was amazing. He would sit there. As soon as I got elected, it was Mr. Thompson. I go, "Hey, Doug, it's Shane. You...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 4)

I thank the Minister for that answer. I guess it disappoints me that we as a government, and we're doing some really good things with our programs and providing these treatments and trying to help our staff people, but unfortunately, now you have to take your annual and sick leave to deal with it. That's disappointing. Can the Minister please advise this House how supervisors are educating and training on working with staff who are going through a counselling process?

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 4)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when I was back home during our break here, I ran into a number of constituents and they were asking about the Employment and Family Assistance Program, and asking for clarification on how it worked. I tried to explain as best I could, but can I get the Minister to please provide us with a brief explanation of how the program works? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 4)

I thank the Minister for his answer. I look forward to seeing those numbers. I greatly appreciate the commitment from the Minister to hear that. Will the Minister, and I have asked this before, will the Minister look at working with his colleagues to develop a budget line in the business plan for summer students so that we can actually promote it? I know we were looking at 400 as a number in the past, and we got close to it. Will the Minister commit to working to doing that?

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 4)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today in my Member's statement I talked about summer employment and the program that the government offers and is doing a better job. I have to give credit where credit is due. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Finance please tell us what the department is doing for potential employment for smaller communities in regards to the Summer Employment Program? Thank you.