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
Email
Phone
(867) 767-9143
Extension
12195
Constituency Office

198 Mackenzie Rd
Unit 123
Inuvik NT X0E 0T0
Canada

P.O. Box
3130
Constituency Phone
867-678-2429
Minister
Email
Email
Minister of Health and Social Services

Statements in Debates

Committee Motion 125-19(2): Committee Report 13-19(2) – Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2019-20 Northwest Territories Ombud Annual Report - Amendment of Section 22(2) of Ombud Legislation, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 77)

Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion. Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? Abstentions? Motion carried.

---Carried

Ms. Martselos.

Member's Statement on Impacts of COVID-19 and Emerging Wisely
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 77)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in light of the news of the soontobereleased updated NWT's Emerging Wisely plan, I am hoping to see clear measures that we need to meet to reopen. For example, vaccination rates to be reached with an actual number to move into the next phase by a certain date, kind of like Alberta and BC just released. This may assist in those who are all for getting the vaccine but just have not made it a priority or some are feeling it's no rush as nothing much will change as nothing much has changed in the past 12 months. I would like a plan for residents to travel...

Committee Motion 124-19(2): Committee Report 13-19(2) – Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2019-20 Northwest Territories Ombud Annual Report - Amendment of Section 23 of Ombud Legislation, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 77)

Sorry. Ms. Martselos, can you please reread the motion.

Committee Motion 123-19(2): Committee Report 13-19(2) - Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2019-20 Northwest Territories Ombud Annual Report – Amendment of Section 17(3) of Ombud Legislation, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 77)

Thank you. The motion is in order. To the motion. Member for Frame Lake.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 76)

Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Ministers' Statement 16119(2); Tabled Documents 411-19(2) and Tabled Document 412-19(2). And I'd like to report progress. And, Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 76)

I will now call Committee of Whole to order. What is the wish of the committee? Member for Frame Lake.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 76)

Thank you. There's a motion on the floor to report progress. The motion is in order and nondebatable. All those in favour. Opposed. Motion is carried.

Carried.

I will now rise and report progress.

Member's Statement on Residential Schools
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 76)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have had a bit of time to reflect on my feelings on the news of finding of the 215 Indigenous children buried in unmarked graves at the Kamloops Indian Residential School grounds. It's heartbreaking to hear, but it's not shocking because as an Indigenous person, many of us have heard stories of what our parents, grandparents, greatgrandparents have told us and what they've had to endure.

It was the Canadian government who created these policies to try to eradicate Indigenous people, to take over their land, and they continue to try and control them through...

Member's Statement on COVID-19 Travel Restrictions regarding Yukon and Northwest Territories Border
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 75)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Dempster Highway is the only way in and out of the Beaufort Delta by road. It's our lifeline to the rest of Canada. Yes, we are NWT residents, but there is no way for us to get to the rest of the NWT unless we drive through Yukon, BC, and Alberta at this time. Or if we can afford to pay the high cost of an airline ticket, and many cannot.

As many in this House are aware, the Yukon has opened its borders without isolation restrictions to those who are vaccinated. Everyone at home is waiting patiently for the ferries to go in, Diane, so they can hit the Dempster.

But...

Committee Report 13-19(2): Report on the Review of the 2019-2020 Northwest Territories Ombud Annual Report
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 75)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Ombud has flagged a potential gap where information provided by the Ombud to a department or agency as part of an investigation could be disclosed by that department. The Ombud has recommended that any information originated with the Office of the Ombud must be kept confidential.

The committee agrees that information from the Ombud should remain confidential, and therefore recommends:

The Standing Committee on Government Operations recommends that Section 25 be amended to specifically impose an obligation on anyone receiving confidential...