Julian Morse

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 36)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's been a long day, so I'm not going to stand and make a long speech about this one but just wanted to also express my support for this. I echo some of the comments made by my colleagues about reconciliation and self-determination which are things that matter to me and I support. Happy to support this. Looking forward to seeing that it brings resources into the territory that we haven't had previously for First Nations to move forward with not just conservation but realizing the benefits of conservation of their land. So happy to support it. I think it is an act of...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 36)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am rising in support of this motion today. In my October 24th statement, I asked the Minister to acknowledge the significant issues in our health care system publicly and put forward to address -- put forward a plan to address these issues. Today I'd like to publicly acknowledge the issues myself.

Mr. Speaker, I have been speaking to health care practitioners for many years now. I certainly spoke to numerous practitioners during the election period. This collection of practitioners have come to represent a concerningly wide breadth of professions and a...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 36)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, similarly, to project management, are we reviewing how we budget for capital projects and how we might better estimate final costs for these large-scale projects? Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 36)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier, I was speaking to the issues of cost overruns in our contracts procurement -- sorry, project management and budgeting. Mr. Speaker, does the Minister agree that cost overruns are not simply an anecdotal problem, but are part of a wider systemic issue in our government? Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 36)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just sitting with the words of my colleagues here. And I think that the first thing I want to say is, you know, just an expression of how much I respect and value the positions of my colleagues and the different perspectives that are shared here regardless of whether -- which way you go on this vote in particular or any vote, really. You know, I deeply appreciate, respect, and value our democratic process and the people who put us all here to represent them, and part of that respect is respecting the different voices that are brought to the table. So I appreciate the...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 36)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, finally, has the Minister considered establishing targets for improvements? So a certain percentage of projects not going over budget anymore, have they thought about identifying kind of a plan for addressing this issue, setting targets to shoot for, and working to meet them to ensure that we are budgeting appropriately, managing projects well, ensuring that we are keeping projects within budget? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 36)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for those -- that answer. Mr. Speaker, I think that the Minister is expressing some confidence but I would suggest that we do -- you know, and I've heard that Minister speak to -- and I know that she's committed to continuous improvement so, Mr. Speaker, are we reviewing our project management to look at how we can avoid excessive cost overruns? Are we implementing continuous improvement in our project management, learn from the mistakes that have been made in the past so that we can better manage our projects going forward and try and...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 35)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to acknowledge a constituent who is serving as a page in the Assembly this week, Lucy Mackay. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 35)

Okay, thank you, Mr. Chair. I mean, yeah, I mean, my comments stand that I think facilities like this, you know, need to be -- I think we need to be thinking in a time when the government is having so much difficulty paying its bills, looking at facilities like this and targeting them for becoming cost recovery if we can. But at this time, I mean, we're looking at an item of asset management too and once we have an asset, we do need to maintain it. So I am in support of keeping this in here but would like the department to get that information to us and discuss how we can -- how we can recover...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 35)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess what I'm looking for is would the Minister commit to converting this facility to a cost-recovery facility going forward?