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 56)

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the deputy minister for that answer. So I guess my question is: are we looking at this as removing the salary subsidy and actually just making it job creation, or is it trying to fit within the parameters that presently exist in the policy? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 56)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I was asking some questions of the Education, Culture and Employment Minister. When we talked about the three cuts at the college, they are all lower-entry-level. Did the department or the college actually look at making some cuts at the upper end of the college? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 56)

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Mr. Lovely, for your answer. Maybe, when we are providing these business plans and mains, we could actually put all the information where it should be so we are all together. That would be a recommendation. Can we get the Minister to commit to making that recommendation to clarify these books? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 56)

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for his answer. In regards to the community projects, is it a cost share or is it fully funded by the department? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 56)

I thank the Minister for his answer. However, I would like to inform the Minister that the access program students, they are not accounted for, to graduate in the North, and that is a challenge. Mr. Speaker, with the majority of the TEP and social work students tending to be young parents, did the college or the department consider the effects of making them uproot their families and lose some of their family support system here to attend school in the South?

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 56)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am going to go back to the $150 million. Can the Minister clarify: is it $150 million that they are giving the school boards, or is it $147 million? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 55)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today in my Member's statement, I was talking about income security. During my tours and talking to people, they are trying to understand it better, and I am not maybe doing the best job, so I guess what I am asking the Minister of ECE is: what factors are taken into calculating income support? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 55)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues. When digging further, I am informed the program has fixed food rates for each community and there is a cost-of-living factor in the IA food rates. Unfortunately, it does not factor in the cost of the person's time, travel or freight to get the food. I will hope that the government will look into this matter to help out these two small communities.

Mr. Speaker, I'll have questions for the Minister of ECE in regard to the matter later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 55)

Thank you, Mr. Chairperson, and I thank the Minister for his answer. I'm not worrying about the technical package. I understand the technical package. It's the messaging we're trying to get across, and I thank the Minister being willing to work with us and brief us as we move forward.

Do not get me wrong; I've seen the research, I've talked to the staff, I've talked to the teachers about the importance of this decision, whether it's collective bargaining. It could potentially, most likely will be, a very positive thing for our students, so I'm not worried about the negotiation part. I just want...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 55)

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for that answer. I understand that, communication, sometimes strategies have to be different for different things. However, if we're going to sell something or be able to promote and inform the people, we as ordinary MLAs should be part of the package. So if you're willing to work with us and get the messaging out, it makes things a little bit easier.

So that's why I'm asking for this, is so we can work together, the 19 of us, so when we're getting out the message, we can get the message to the prime stakeholders, who are the parents. So it doesn't...