Member Frame Lake

Mr. Morse was elected to the 20th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly to represent the constituency of Frame Lake.

Mr. Morse grew up in Yellowknife and graduated from Sir John Franklin High School. He studied political science and economics in undergrad, has a diploma in environment and natural resources technology from Aurora College, and a master’s degree in conflict analysis & management from Royal Roads University.

Mr. Morse has a diverse professional background, including ten years’ experience working in the NWT’s regulatory system. He has worked as an environmental technician, policy analyst, executive director of an NGO, and constituency assistant at the Legislative Assembly. He has also worked a variety of trades and labour positions over the years, including a season working on the Snowking’s snow castle construction team. He is licensed to operate commercial watercraft, and works as a zodiac driver and polar bear guard for an expedition cruise company in the summer.

His dedication to public service extended to a two-term tenure as a city councillor in Yellowknife, where he worked from 2015 to 2022. He served on the board of directors for the Yellowknife Housing Authority from 2021 to 2023.

In his spare time Julian enjoys various outdoor activities, and has extensively explored Great Slave Lake in his sailboat. He is an avid hunter, and has participated in expeditions for moose, caribou, and muskox across the varied landscapes of the Northwest Territories.

Prior to his political career, he contributed to the Boards of Folk on the Rocks and the Somba K'e Paddling Club. In his personal life, Julian shares his home with his girlfriend Rhiana and their pets – Beatrix, the dog, and Loki, the cat.

Frame Lake Electoral District:

Committees

Julian Morse
Frame Lake
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 50)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I just want to continue on my now annual plug for the old Northwest Territories environmental audit. I note in the business plans that there's going to be a 2025 audit. I think the update, it says that they've commenced work on it. And I note that the target in the business plan -- and if they're looking for a page number, it's page 79 of the document, page 35. I'm not sure which of those pages is actually the relevant page. There's two page numbers on the document. So -- but anyways, the point being that the business plan target is that 2025 audit...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 50)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that incredibly detailed answer. My next question is, Mr. Speaker, if that is our goal, why have we not clearly articulated it -- and I might suggest being a bit more brief -- in the business plans? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 50)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have spoken a lot about the need for establishing measurable targets for priority implementation, and today I want to put that lens on our priority for access to health care. When we set this priority, what I specifically meant by it was putting a focus on ensuring everyone in the NWT has access to primary care. Since setting that priority, we have seen the Premier establish the health care sustainability unit and, most recently, the health Minister appointed a new public administrator for the NTHSSA. Together, these changes are heavily focused on the...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 50)

Thank you, Madam Chair. And, yeah, certainly haven't poured through that plan in any kind of detail so it's a bit hard to say. But maybe the Minister can help me understand, is the department doing any kind of tracking on sort of identifying high priority communities based on which ones might be most at risk or which ones FireSmarting is kind of most needed and prioritizing those communities, or are we just kind of spreading money around? Because I'm sure there's some communities whose FireSmarting is ahead of others. Certainly we want to get to a place where all communities in the NWT are...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 50)

Thank you. Similarly, I'd just note that there's a variation year over year, a much smaller variation in compensation and benefits. Is it for the same reason? Is this related to staffing up or down as need be in order to address any given year's fire activity, or is there a bit more to that story as well? Thanks.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 49)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Well, maybe the Minister or her staff could give us an update on kind of on progress that they've been making in advocating the federal government for kind of continuation of these funds or perhaps obtaining new funds. I notice that, you know, when we look at the revenue items on page 262, there's a number of different projects for which we got new funding this year or increased funding. I won't list them off, but I do see a number there. So I'm just wondering if we -- why we haven't made progress on getting funding for programs like this. Certainly, the low-income...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 49)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister. Mr. Speaker, how do residents find out if they're eligible? How are they going to find out how to apply for this program or if they're eligible for it and how they go about receiving this benefit? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 49)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No, I was finished. If the Minister wants to respond, I mean, I was really just overemphasizing the point, but just wanted to, again, note my support for taking territorial money and using it to help territorial residents convert off of these expensive fossil fuels. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 49)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, you know, I just want to emphasize to the Minister that, you know, some of these programs -- even some more than others, particularly the low-income program, but there is a number of programs put forward under the low carbon economy leadership fund that were about more than just reducing greenhouse gases which, of course, is an important goal. But also these are some of the key programs that have been used in the territory to help people reduce their cost of living, which is -- it's something that politicians constantly talk about, and it's one of the areas that we...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 49)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I just wanted to first ask a question about -- the Member for Yellowknife North touched upon it today in her Member's statement, and I wanted to follow up, you know, during budget here. Certainly, it was unfortunate to see the discontinuation of the low carbon economy leadership fund, and I just note that there's a few projects that have discontinued funding also under the energy action plan, and I was just wondering -- you know, I see the electric bicycles rebate, any electric vehicles rebate. And I'm just wondering is there a reason why the money that was...