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 34)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Great Slave, that Committee Report 20-20(1), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on Committee's Initiation of the 10-year Review of the Northwest Territories Heritage Fund Act, be received and adopted by the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 34)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Your Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to provide its Report on Committee's Initiation of the 10-Year Review of the Northwest Territories Heritage Fund Act.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Great Slave, that Committee Report 20-20(1), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on Committee's Initiation of the 10-year Review of the Northwest Territories Heritage Fund Act, be deemed read and printed in Hansard in its entirety. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 34)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this is a more general question just about long-term care in general but is -- are any of the long-term care facilities that are either planned or already built going to be able to provide a standard of care which would allow repatriation of out of territory long-term care patients? Because I know that's something that we spend -- I looked back through the mains and, you know, we are spending $45 million a year on out of territory long-term care. And so by building these long-term care facilities, is there a possibility for -- what I'm really asking here is...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 34)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Great Slave, that Committee Report 19-20(1), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Report on the Statutory Review of the Cannabis Legalization and Regulation Implementation Act, be received and adopted by the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 34)

Thank you. I appreciate that answer, and the modular construction certainly sounds like a good way to go ahead. So just to confirm, though, let's say the bed projections in 2025 come back and say demand is not going to be as high as what was originally projected, are you going to be able to scale construction down to reflect that so that we have right-sized facilities?

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 34)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in July 2024 the GNWT released the 2023 Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Report and attached an employee satisfaction action plan to that report. I do note, with some disappointment, that favourability scores were noted to decline across all indices relative to the 2021 survey. A couple of items I'd like to highlight, Mr. Speaker:

Only 58 percent of staff felt that innovation was valued in their work.

Only 52 percent said they felt valued as employees or that commitment to quality was a high priority.

Overall, morale lowered by 4.9 percent since the last...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 34)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So in particular -- well, maybe I'll get into specifics on this one. So I note that there -- can the Minister give us an update as to where they're at with construction of the Hay River facility.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 33)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I have some questions -- or a question about the Aurora College student housing unit in Fort Smith. There's renovation of a couple units there. So my question is not so much about that project but, you know, the capital plan indicates repairs for those but there's no funds for other Aurora College capital needs proposed this year. So what are the timelines, priority levels and expected funding for other critical areas or need across the Aurora College campuses? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 33)

Thank you for those answers, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, how will the NWT Medical Association, the nurses’ union, other organizations like that be engaged and have input into the decisions being made by the health care sustainability unit?

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 33)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just spoke about the health sustainability unit, and I think probably my questions are best directed towards the Premier on this one.

Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, can the Premier just reassure the public and reassure people watching that, you know, the sustainability unit is going to be looking at more than just service system cuts. If the Premier would like to share some more information about that on the record, it would be appreciated. Thank you.