Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to speak about what the community of Jean Marie First Nations has done recently. This small community has really taken the initiative to become more energy efficient. The community has constructed a solar panel installation at the water treatment plant. This solar panel installation will generate approximately six kilowatt hours, which will offset 15 per cent of the plant's power consumption.

Mr. Speaker, the community was very excited about installing new solar panels to provide power to the water treatment plant. During the installation, the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Standing Committee on Social Development concluded its review of Bill 8, An Act to Amend the Vital Statistics on October 25, 2016. In addition to soliciting written submissions, the committee had a public hearing at the Legislative Assembly building here in Yellowknife. The committee was pleased to receive a written submission from Dene Nahjo and to hear from members of the public who addressed the committee during the public hearing. Members, I also thank Shene Catholique-Valpy speaking as an individual, Coleen Canney and Teale MacIntosh from the Rainbow...

I thank the Minister for his answer. I'm just a little bit disappointed in hearing that it's a generic one and I appreciate we need to develop a territorial one, but when we're looking at the small communities we're trying to get them off diesel fuel. I mean, ultimately, we're trying to make it a better place for people and reduce costs. So will the Minister get his department or the corporation to look at that strategy and talk to the smaller communities so they can work on something that they can make use of their money to make it more cost-effective to live in their communities?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I was talking about in my Member’s statement and as I was saying in question period, there was a public meeting with the Power Corporation and they talked about their strategic plan for the communities and the power, and how we're going to generate it and make it specifically for the communities. So I guess my question to the Minister, can he please explain if, by developing this, did the corporation actually work with the communities to come up with their specific one or is this a generic one for the whole NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again, I talked about the public meeting we had in Colville Lake being presented there as the ideal model out there. Is the Minister able to work with the corporation or direct the corporation to come up with a better storage operation that can be used in these smaller communities?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today I spoke about the Jean Marie and their willingness to become more energy efficient. I applaud them for doing this great initiative. Mr. Speaker, I was a little surprised to find out that communities can only generate 20 per cent of their own energy power from solar panels and stuff like that. This is a good step towards our mandate, but we need to do more especially for the smaller communities.

We need to help them become more energy efficient and the cost of living can go down. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister responsible for the NWT Power...

I thank the Minister for her answer. I guess I'm a little bit concerned. We're talking about third-party funding, so the department gives funding to the two of the partners to run events. But I guess my thing is I was looking for the department, and I appreciate that they're working with the seniors, or older adults as they want to be called. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement I spoke about some of the benefits of physical literacy for older adults. Can the Minister advise the House if the department is willing to promote the benefits of physical literacy to the residents of the NWT?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the Minister for reaffirming that commitment here in the House. I thank you very much. In regards to this building here, these seven units, is there any better ranking for stick-built versus modular, or is it whatever comes in at the cheapest? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to rise in the House to inform you that Mr. Frederick (Sonny) Williams McLeod, 82 years old, entered into peace on Thursday, September 15, 2016. Mr. McLeod's final days were spent surrounded by family and friends. Fred had an effect on each of us in some way throughout his memorable life. It is comforting to know both Fred and Violet have given themselves to the Lord. He now joins his wife, Violet, in paradise. Mr. and Mrs. McLeod are survived by their five children and their spouses, ten grandchildren and five great grandchildren and numerous...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank the Minister for her short kind of an answer. I understand what the process is. Has the department worked with the RCMP to make sure that we actually build what they are looking for and not what is the most cost-effective way of do it? Thank you, Mr. Chair.