Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and again I thank the Member. He's been very active on this file, and I appreciate his work for it.

Mr. Speaker, as I said in my Minister's statement, the officers landed, they waited for an hour and a half an hour and 20 minutes before they could actually get in to do the work. They offered the opportunity to go directly to the source where it was, and it was denied. So, Mr. Speaker, I've reached out to the chief and asked to arrange a facetoface meeting to discuss how we can continue to work on our collaborative efforts to work together to support the caribou. As I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'll wear my ENR hat on this one. So the GNWT and Alberta share information about the Hay River throughout the year, through the GNWT and Alberta Transboundary Water Agreement and its bilateral management committee. The data is used to inform the spring water level outlook that is shared with MACA and the public for emergency preparedness purposes. It is not possible to alleviate water flow on the Hay River as there is no control structure such as dams along it. That said, ENR is working with federal governments and other GNWT departments to create a hazard...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, MACA is leading ENR supporting information. ENR provides Municipal and Community Affairs with support role in flood management. ENR monitors and evaluates water and climate conditions prior to ice breakup every spring to help determine the level of risk of flooding. ENR shares its NWT snow surveys results and spring water level outlook for 2022 with MACA and public for emergency preparedness purposes. During the freshet and flood situation, daily water monitoring bulletins are shared with emergency management organizations and are available to the public...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to address the House about the Environment and Natural Resources' search of the Lutselk'e camp on September 13th. Many people have asked for more information about how and why a search was conducted at the camp near Artillery Lake. As the search was a matter before the courts, we could not provide more information.

On October 24th, the search warrant used for this search was quashed. I want to make it clear that the investigations related to suspected illegal caribou harvest and wastage remains open and are ongoing. As this search is no longer...

Thank you, Madam Chair. On my left is deputy minister Jamie Koe, and on my right is Katherine Macdonald, director of finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. On my right is deputy minister Erin Kelly, and on my left is Jessica St. Arnaud, director of finance. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've made a commitment to the chief in a letter. The GNWT's committed to continue to work on commitments made in Thaidene Nene established agreement including the development of mutually agreedupon procedures and practice for the enforcement response to be used within the Thaidene Nene. I'm more than willing to work with chief and council. I'm more than willing to have the Member be there and go into the community and work forward on this issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it hasn't been proven it was unlawful. We were given a tip. There was two illegal hunts in the mobile zone. There was caribou wastage. There was carcasses left behind. There was impact that was 6,200 caribou minus. To put it in perspective, last year on the winter road we had illegal harvests. That was just almost half in those two hunts. So I'm more than willing to work, reach out and have those conversations with the chief, and I offered to go right into the community to have these conversations. I'm willing to work together on this. But again, it's...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. So what the Member's asking is to piggyback with Arctic Winter Games. Arctic Winter Games are very trials are very focused on the competition to get the teammate up for NWT. However, the opportunity, if communities want to work and provide opportunities, these communities can work together to provide that opportunity and if they are able to put it in the same weekend, they can do it. Right now the Beaufort Delta recreation association does have money for opportunities to give youth to have competitions within the regions. So they can have that opportunity. So if the...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, today I would like to provide an update on the 2022 wildfire season.

Wildfires are a natural and important part of the boreal forest. They help keep ecosystems healthy, and they burn off excess fuels like dead and dried out foliage that builds up within the forest, which can lead to more extreme fires. That is why our fire crews do not fight all wildfires, particularly if the fire poses no threat to values at risk. When communities, cabins, infrastructure, and other values at risk are threatened, however, our wildfire management team is ready to take...