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 , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 122)

Thank you. Municipal and Community Affairs is providing disaster assistance recovery from the 2022 flood consistent with the GNWT Executive Council Disaster Assistance Policy with two federal government programs. The disaster Assistance Policy is a governmentfunded program that may be implemented after widespread disaster to ensure essential community functions and covers the essential basic needs of residents and businesses. Disaster assistance is limited to essential items, the loss of which was either preventable or noninsurable. It is not an insurance program to recover all losses and...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 122)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to also recognize Julia Erasmus. Her parents live across, and I've had the pleasure of knowing Julia for a long time. She did a lot of dental work with my kids. Not saying they had dental problems, but.

As well, MaryJane Cazon, our translator who speaks Dene Zhatie here, as well Jamie Koe, deputy minister for Lands, as well Pam. Thank you very much for being here. Sorry about your loss. Tommy was an amazing individual and when we'd talk about being in his pipes, he'd always sit there and laugh at me and say, you're never ever gonna score a goal on me. And...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 122)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: Inuvialuit Water Board 20212022 Annual Report and Financial Statements; and, Natural Resource Conservation Trust Fund Financial Statements for Year Ended March 31st, 2022. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 122)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we're not steamrolling ahead. We're advancing the Geological Slave Corridor Project as it is a mandate commitment of the current Legislative Assembly. All 19 of us agreed to our mandate. Some of them may not agree with every one, and I didn't agree with all the mandates on there, but we collectively all agreed with it, that we would have a mandate and that was one of them.

So, Mr. Speaker, with the federal government federal funding secured to advance Lockhart allseason road to a shovelready state, along with planning, engineering, and environmental...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 122)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this going to be a little bit longer answer because it's that much important question the Member asked.

As mentioned in my August 2022 update with SCEDI, the Mackenzie Valley Impact Review Board hosted a workshop introducing participants the concept of regional studies and started a conversation on potential regional studies and how it should look. The GNWT responded to CIRNAC requesting for feedback on the July 29th or sorry, responded to the July 29th. The response did not articulate a GNWT position but outlined some of the GNWT's key interests and...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 122)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, residents and businesses may receive an advance up to 50 percent of the damage identified in the damage assessment that were completed with each resident and business. Those who have unique hardships, where they are required to pay specific costs in advance or are unable to access other finances and have no other options, may be eligible for an advancement up to 100 percent of their anticipated costs for repairs. GNWT pathfinders have been working directly with those individuals who have indicated that they meet the criteria in additional assistance...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 122)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is presently eight MACA declared solely to the 2022 flood recovery effort. We have a director and a finance officer in Yellowknife, and we have six pathfinders; four in Hay River and two in Yellowknife. In addition, there's excessive support being provided by several staff at Yellowknife, or headquarters, and the South Slave Region as well as other GNWT departments, including Environment and Natural Resources, Infrastructure, Housing NWT, and Finance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 122)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Therese Bertrand was born on March 1st, 1934, at Fisherman Lake. Her parents were Marie Angele and Laurent Deneron. She passed away on May 22nd, 2022, at the age of 88. Therese was raised at Fisherman Lake in the springtime, and during the fall, her parents and siblings spent time on the land in Yunaa, also called "across the river".

She met her husband Phillip Bertrand in 1949 when she was 15 years old. They moved to Maxhamish where they raised their nine children.

Therese was brought up in the traditional Dene lifestyle by lakes with lots of fish, birds, animals with...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 122)

Thank you, Madam Chair. My problem is it's not the minimum wage. My problem is it isolation allowance? You know, we give I know my CA's getting more than $25 an hour but we should be giving them isolation allowance. That's what we should be doing. So this motion here doesn't address that, especially for our constituent assistants outside of Yellowknife. So that there is where I'm you know, I'm already paying more than $25 an hour but isolation allowance is where the impact on in my riding, I have staff that, you know, my CA works with me but he could work for the government and get the same...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 122)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Environmental assessments, in general, are specific to a project. While a regional strategic environmental assessment is much broader than looking at a single project and, in this case, a proposed much larger geographical scale. A regional strategic environmental assessment is designed to assist with the potential environment, social and economic effects, including cumulative effects are alternating strategies initiatives, policies, planning or programs for a particular region. Environmental assessments and regional studies processes do not compete with each other. They...