Lesa Semmler

Member Inuvik Twin Lakes

Minister of Health and Social Services

Lesa Semmler currently serves as the Member representing Inuvik Twin Lakes in the 20th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly, having been re-elected to the position. Born in Yellowknife, NT, and raised in Inuvik, where she still resides, Ms. Semmler has deep roots in the Northwest Territories. 

A Registered Nurse, Ms. Semmler graduated from the Aurora College Northern Nursing Program in 2000 and earned her Community Health Nurse Certification from the Canadian Nurses Association in 2008. With 15 years of frontline nursing experience at the Inuvik Regional Hospital, she focused on Acute Care, Homecare, and Public Health. Her career also included roles as the Manager of Acute Care Services and eventually the Regional Manager of Acute Care Services under the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority. Notably, she served as the Inuvialuit Health System Navigator at the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, assisting Inuvialuit Beneficiaries in navigating the healthcare system. 

Beyond her healthcare career, Ms. Semmler has actively contributed to education and community service. She served on the Inuvik District Education Authority, assuming the role of Chair from 2015 to 2018, and chaired the Beaufort Delta Education Council. Ms. Semmler participated in various working groups at the territorial and national levels, including the Inuit Tuberculosis Elimination Board and the Inuit Midwifery Revitalization. Her commitment to social justice is evident in her voluntary work as a member of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls National Family Advisory Circle, where she worked to ensure northern voices were heard and represented. Lesa Semmler's life and career reflect her passion for healthcare, education, and advocating for the well-being of her community.

Inuvik Twin Lakes Electoral District

Committees

Inuvik Twin Lakes
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Email
Extension
12195
Constituency Office

198 Mackenzie Rd
Unit 123
Inuvik NT X0E 0T0
Canada

P.O. Box
3130
Constituency Phone
Minister
Email
Minister of Health and Social Services

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 19)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So going back to the COVID endemic funding. So when that sunseted, we also -- and I announced -- remember, I did that long list of all of the different funding pots that we just recently -- so the shared health priorities that we got funding from Health Canada for activities under the new bilateral agreement and the Working Together to Improve Health Care for Canadians, which includes family health services, health workforce and mental wellness, substance abuse, that was an increase of $4.382 million to this budget. There was an increase with the collective agreement. So...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 19)

Thank you. This budget has $1.417 million, and that would be for the two THARP programs. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 19)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, every resident who travels outside the territories on their own -- you know, if you were to end up in the hospital and get sick or anything, that is not the responsibility of the GNWT to bring them back. There is information on the NTHSSA website for travelling out -- information for travelling outside the Northwest Territories. It does speak to even travelling within Canada, that people should -- you know, if they are travelling that they should make sure that they look at what insurances that they have, if they need additional insurances when travelling...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 19)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, for myself, I was a labour and delivery nurse, so I don't understand why nobody wants to be a labour and delivery nurse, so. But, you know, for the most part I know even when I was a manager trying to convince some nurses to go and train to be a labour and delivery nurse -- it's a specialty. It's just like any other thing people want to do. And, you know, and I think for a long time here once we -- one of the issues that we know that within the current obstetrics where we -- I mean, it's not a secret that there was many vacancies over COVID, and then that's when...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 19)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, under this area, what the -- the bigger piece of the deduction was the COVID endemic funding. So the sunsetting of this funding for the transition from COVID-19 to pandemic to endemic. So that's what a lot of that money is that's changed. So that's gone. There is the labour market supplement for NTHSSA and TCSA, sunsetting of the one-time funding approved to support recruitment and retention of health care professionals, and the labour market supplement HRHSSA sunset of one-time funding approved to support recruitment and retention of health professionals...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 19)

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I hear the Member. And, you know, I'll echo what I've said is, you know, what we are funded for and our core programs and services and what we provide to the Northwest Territories, the things that are not covered in other territories and provinces that we provide over the years that we have just -- you know, we have decided as a government, and many governments up until now, that this is something that we need to provide to our residents is why we are in the shape where we are. And every new thing that we ask for and we want to do that's not a core...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 19)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, when regions -- you know, depending on who is reaching out for those services in the different regions, for us, you know, we are working on the recruitment portion of it. But if there independent Indigenous organizations that want to access those funding, the boards that want to access those funding, you know, they can be way more strategic on how they're providing services in their regions. They're more flexible in how they can hire people. So right now what I can -- all I can really say is that the department is preparing a review of the speech...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 19)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It'll be details will come after bargaining is done. And, you know, I mean, I think there's not much more information that I can provide as I don't have that. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 19)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. With the transition of the way that the program merged, like, works with ECE now, there was a reduction in the amount of CYCs available to -- in the program under health but that those dollars were transferred -- that's the operating dollars for ECE to use for their program. So, yes, there has been. They just been moved to ECE, the funding for those positions that have been discontinued. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 19)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, again, this is one of the things that's in our business plan. I know it -- you know, I've had asked questions because the timeline is long. We started rolling out the EMR before, way back when I was still practising. And we finally just got it into the last community in the Northwest Territories. So now that we have to replace the -- it is a multi -- I guess to explain it, there's multiple systems. And so I think what the Member's referring to is like right now, what we want to do is looking into -- when we designed the system, I think the goal is -- you...