Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is very sad to see the plight of floodaffected families and we all must come forward to help each other in the hour of need. This includes the GNWT as we work on doing their best to assist the affected families and evacuees during the 2021 flood for the communities of Jean Marie River and Fort Simpson. As a person who was in one of the communities during the flood and in contact with the other community, the GNWT did a great job. What I saw and witnessed was the departments doing their best to support each community as we dealt with the flood.

The GNWT...

Thank you, Madam Chair. We need the freezer because we had over 150  or 140 caribou that were killed illegally in the mobile zone. Unfortunately, we can't cut up the meat and put it away. We need to have it as evidence. We've seen a court case now that they actually  the JP actually said we have to give some caribou back and they wanted exactly what he killed. So we need the unit to be able to store the caribou, the evidence, until the court case is dealt with. Once the court case is dealt with, we then give the meat out to the communities that did not  I repeat, did not be part of the illegal...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Member for the question. The statement of environmental values required under the Environmental Rights Act will outline how the environment will be considered when government decisions are made that may have a significant impact on the environment.

Specifically to the Member's question, ENR has prepared a draft statement of environmental values that will be ready for a 90day public comments period by the end of this summer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The NWT Climate Change Council was established in March 2021 and so they have been having meetings. Part of the development of this council is panels, and we do have a panel for youth and we are trying to getting them engaged. This summer, ENR has some opportunities for youth to be involved. But other youth have had the opportunity to reach out to me, and I've had the opportunity to meet with them. In my former life, youth were important. I always say our foundation of our elders and our future is our youth. So I'm more than willing to meet with them. We do have the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On Saturday May 8th, as I was sitting in my living room, we heard the siren that we did not want to hear. It was the siren to advise residents it was time to evacuate the island as the water level had reached the 15meter mark. At this point in time, the community called a local state of emergency and kicked in the plan. As residents started leaving the island, the fire department and volunteers started going door to door to see who was going to leave and who was going to stay.

Mr. Speaker, we saw more than 400 residents pack up their necessities and move to the mainland...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, May 7th, residents in Jean Marie were watching the river rise as Chief and Council initiated their Local Emergency. At 6:30 p.m., the first siren sounded advising the residents to start moving to higher ground. As residents rushed home to finish packing up the necessaries and getting ready to leave their home, the second siren sounded. This happened very quickly, and residents witnessed the water steadily climb and flow over the road that leads out of town.

In speaking with some residents afterwards, they said it was very scary because they did...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can't talk about the past. That's gone. What I can tell you about right now is the Government of Canada, the Tlicho Government, and the Government of Northwest Territories are working together. We're talking about facetoface, bringing a facilitator. So if they're willing to do that and our Indigenous governments are willing to do this process, why do we as the Government of Northwest Territories need to bring in the dispute mechanism? We don't need to do that unless it's our last resort. So right now, the Government of the Canada, the Tlicho Government, and the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Member's commitment in looking at the same movie over and over again. But if it's a good movie, you want to watch it again and again. And so we want to get you know, see new things, moving on, and we can do that.

So we are moving forward. I have to say that. It's government, and we're looking at three different levels of government, and it takes a long time to get all three parties working together here.

To date, there has been a productive dialog with the GNWT, the Government of Canada, and the Indigenous government. And so we're working with them...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, the Government of the Northwest Territories is not holding it up. I want to make that very clear. Deh Cho First Nations, the GNWT, and the Federal government are part of a working group for the Deh Cho Land Use Planning Committee. In talking to the Committee and being advised that to complete their plan is we're looking at 20222023. And, again, like I said, the GNWT is very supportive of this and working as an active member on it.

So the House is aware, the committee has a revised plan based on reviews of all parties, and the next step is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, wildfire season is here, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, or ENR, and our dedicated fire management team are ready.

Today I'd like to provide an update on what ENR has done to get ready for the 2021 fire season and the role residents and communities across the Northwest Territories have in preventing wildfires.

Mr. Speaker, preparation for the wildfire season begins with people. To that end, we have made sure that we have welltrained and wellprepared staff and contractors in place to respond to wildfires across every region and that...