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, 2nd Session (day 72)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Social Development is pleased to provide its Report on the Review of Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Education Act, and commends it to the House.

Bill 16, An Act to Amend the Education Act, proposes to enshrine the Junior Kindergarten Program in the territorial "education program" and to regulate entitlements of access for junior kindergarten students, who could be as young as three and eight months. The bill also proposes to reduce the mandatory minimum for school instructional hours.

The Standing Committee on Social Development has...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 71)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during the budget process, the Department of Health and Social Services received new funding to support enhanced homecare and youth in crisis. On Thursday, we received an e-mail from the Minister of Health and Social Services identifying a proposed plan to allocate this funding. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Health and Social Services please provide further information on the plan to us here today? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 71)

The Minister is right. He has asked me to get that information to him, and I will get that information to him. I guess the next question for the Minister: what kind of work has the department been doing to train other departments in working to help address this challenging issue?

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 71)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I was talking about mental health and mental illness, and I have some questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Can the Minister please tell us what kind of training front-line workers are doing besides Mental Health First Aid? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 71)

This is great news and I must publicly thank the Minister for sharing this information here today. I was very concerned during the budget process, and now I'm happier to hear this good news. I have to recognize the hard work that the department and Minister have done to this date. Can the Minister advise if this good news e-mail can be shared with the public?

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 71)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the past four months, we've witnessed five tragedies that have deeply saddened the families, friends, our communities, and myself. Unfortunately, these types of tragedies happen across the world daily. I know it's very difficult to talk about, but it needs to be spoken about here today. Mr. Speaker, mental illness has long been misunderstood and unfairly judged. We need to strive to break this stigma. Mental illnesses are not a choice. They often make life difficult for those who suffer from them, as well as their family and friends. When looking at this...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 71)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for his answer. I, too, have taken the Mental Health First Aid training, but also have taken Strengthen Children's Mental Health as well, and basically, what I am looking at is: can the Minister make a commitment to work with his colleagues, the other Ministers, to have the front-line staff get some training out there? Because we are having lots of tragedies out there. We are seeing a lot of losses of lives, and it is really disappointing. Will the Minister work with the Minister of MACA and the Minister of ECE to get the front-line workers out...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 71)

I thank the Minister for that answer. I guess we are seeing too many tragedies out here in this world, especially in all of our ridings. As we move forward, will the Minister look at other alternatives such as the strengthening mental health for children offered through NWTRP as an opportunity for front-line workers to be using that course?

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 71)

I'd like to thank the Minister for allowing us to share this good information again out to the public. Mr. Speaker, with this plan in place, can the Minister explain the next steps to implement this plan and provide a potential timeline, like job descriptions and stuff like that, that have to be done?

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 70)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on May 11th to the 15th, I had an opportunity to travel with over 60 youth on their annual soccer trip to Grande Prairie. Talk about an adventure. What is really unique about this adventure is we have youth from Fort Liard, Nahanni Butte, Fort Simpson, Wrigley, and Trout Lake playing on this team, which is Sambaa K'e now, sorry Trout Lake.

So, when we took this adventure, how do we start? Well, it starts at 7:30 in the morning. We get the stuff to the school. Then we have to use Rowe's Construction's cube van to get our luggage transported to the ferry...