Kate Reid

Member Great Slave

Kate Reid was elected to the 20th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly to represent the constituency of Great Slave.

Ms. Reid was born in the city of Oshawa, Ontario in 1981. She has lived in Yellowknife since 1989. Ms. Reid’s journey is a testament to her diverse interests and unwavering dedication to making a positive impact in her community.

Ms. Reid’s career began in journalism, after graduating with a bachelor of journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University in 2003. Her interest in research led her to work at the Yellowknife Public Library, which in turn took her to the University of Toronto for a master’s degree in information studies, graduating in 2009. Returning to the north, she was grateful for the opportunity to join the staff at the NWT Archives, where she cultivated a deep appreciation for preserving and sharing the stories that define the territory and its government. Transitioning to the Government of Northwest Territories, Department of Environment and Climate Change, Ms. Reid brought her expertise to the forefront of environmental issues, contributing to sustainable development through legislative and policy work for five years prior to being elected.

Away from the demands of her professional life, Ms. Reid is married and finds solace and inspiration in an array of hobbies. Her love for music, art, burlesque, drag, film, and travel speaks to her eclectic tastes and a thirst for cultural exploration.

Ms. Reid’s dedication to community service is exemplary, marked by her role as the President of YWCA NWT from 2021 to 2023. Her leadership extends to the cultural realm as a past director for Folk on the Rocks, an annual music festival that enriches Yellowknife's cultural landscape. Additionally, Ms. Reid has actively contributed to community events such as NWT and Yellowknife Pride, Burn on the Bay and served as the UNW Local 40 President in 2019 and from 2021 to 2023, demonstrating her commitment to advocacy and the well-being of her fellow citizens.

Great Slave Electoral District:

Committees

Member Kate Reid
Great Slave
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Email

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

I'm all right for now, thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister speak to whether his Cabinet will be using the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework again in this Assembly? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I'd be happy to talk to the Minister more fulsomely about this with suggestions. I hope he comes to committee and chats with us about it. But I really, really, really stress that, you know, in the scoping of how you want to go out on an RFP for this that you really take a really careful look at that report, talk to your communicators, find out what's working first before you spend a whole heck ton of money and time on something that will probably give you the same results. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister. That's really great to hear. And to, you know, echo my colleague from Monfwi's statement earlier today, it's really good to hear that this Minister's supporting things over time and getting us there, and I hope she can get us there as quickly as possible. So to that end, is the Minister's department willing to invest further in training local NWT health care workers to increase their skill sets? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Wow, okay. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are also for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Could the Minister please confirm if the majority of need for agency nurses is in obstetrics? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 17)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table a letter from the Union of Northern Workers to Members of the 20th Legislative Assembly on the Use of Agency Nurses in NWT Healthcare. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 17)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I will do my best to not break your rules today, but I'm going to go back to what I was asking the Minister of Health and Social Services yesterday.

My first question is whether or not the Department of Health and Social Services has asked Indigenous midwives about what would support the growth of midwifery in the territory, specifically in our smaller communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 17)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister speak to whether he'd consider expanding or reenvisioning the NWT alert page to draw from GNWT corporate communications or any centralized mechanism that would be able to consolidate all relevant and robust public safety information in a mobile app, like the BC wildfire app. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 17)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I'd like to talk about how we communicate. I'm going to talk specifics. The Northwest Territories emergency plan from April 2024 has an appendix B, which is the emergency communications protocol. One sentence on page 6 of the protocol reads: Within this model, departments and agencies are expected to implement their own communications tactics based on their own business continuity needs during an emergency.

Mr. Speaker, I'm hearing general concern that this will give GNWT departments the leniency to silo themselves in future disasters down the line. It's also a...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 17)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister. I realize these are last minute questions, and I appreciate that. I hope she can get back to me on maybe some of the history of what the department has done to talk to Indigenous midwives.

My next question is why have midwives not been considered in the recruitment and retention strategies that have been applied to nurses and physicians? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.