Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, caribou have sustained Northerners and communities across the Northwest Territories for generations. Today, caribou herds face pressure from a wide range of natural factors and human activities throughout their range, including the impact of climate change. We all want to see healthy caribou herds that can sustain harvest and cultural traditions for generations to come. With the winter’s harvest underway and weather getting warmer, I would like to speak today on respectful harvesting, why it is important, and what our government is doing to encourage safe...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Member for the question. Current provisions for recreational or residential leases does not allow for commercial activities such as an Airbnb. Having a home business or a B and B is considered a commercial endeavour. In most jurisdictions, it requires a commercial lease as well as business license. Commercial leases are available to the public now in appropriate zoned areas. If this is a desire, lessees should reach out to the department to discuss the parameters for changing the use of their lease and potential issues that may need to be considered...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member is aware, we are wrapping up the review of the land leaseonly policy, and I committed to providing the results prior to the end of this sitting. However, we are aware that land resources and selfgovernment agreements are under negotiations, and we continue to work to ensure that land is managed appropriately under these agreements that are under negotiations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is part of the Giant Mine Remediation Project team and is involved in all work planning, including consideration of timelines. The GMRP timeline has recently been lengthened to maximize Indigenous and northern business opportunities. The GNWT will continue to pursue opportunities associated with the Giant Mine Remediation Project that will create opportunities for Indigenous and northern businesses. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ITI analysis showed that the reason contractors went south included not receiving the highest score on the contract evaluation, no northern companies submitted a bid, noncompetitive processes work, technical capacity is absent in northern firms. These contracts were limited to the specialized equipment items. Through Indigenous Opportunities Consideration, or IOC, the Giant Mine project aims to provide benefits for all work packages to the Indigenous community in the area of the contract. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I regret to inform you that on February 13th, the community of Fort Simpson lost a respected elder. William Gilbert Villeneuve, commonly known as Billy V a friend, a father, uncle, and respected elder passed away.

Mr. Speaker, it is rare to find a friend/relative who's always there, is nonjudgmental, a good listener, someone who cares and loved you regardless. That's who Billy was, regardless if he was an uncle, cousin or just a friend. It didn't matter as everyone knew that he cared about them. Mr. Speaker, in speaking with his family, they said he was an...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to make it clear there is no evidence for concern about the water quality at this time. Enhanced testing of water, drinking water in Fort Chip, where the water is typically drawn from the Lake Athabasca show no evidence of contamination. There is no denying that the truth of Indigenous governance, community leaders, and our government has been affected by the failure to provide direct notification. So we are working with it down in Fort Smith as well to keep the monitoring of this, and we will provide information if we have concerns moving forward...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with regret, I have to inform the House, no, we didn't hear anything. I didn't hear anything. We didn't even get notified by any level of the Alberta government and we had to actually find out through, I guess you would call it the telephone system where somebody provides something else and then they cut to our staff and then this is how we found out. So, unfortunately, no, we did not find out the way we were supposed to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is committed to strengthening the Northwest Territories emergency management by improving response to emergency events and assisting residents and community governments to be well prepared when faced with an emergency. I will outline for Members the lessons learned from the 2022 flood and how we apply these lessons to prepare for the 2023 flood season.

Mr. Speaker, before I do that, I want to acknowledge the difficult journey for those people so heavily impacted by the 2021 and the 2022 flood. These events...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is right. Residents rightly want to know their government has taken steps to ensure they're safe. To this end, we continue to work with Indigenous governments and the Town of Fort Smith to enhance water monitoring in Slave River. We also communicated with the Alberta government officials to better understand the nature of the spill and the potential for impact and plans for cleanup. Recognizing this is an unacceptable breach of our bilateral water management agreement with the Alberta government, we will be activating the agreement dispute...