Shauna Morgan

Member Yellowknife North

Shauna Morgan was elected to the 20th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly to represent the constituency of Yellowknife North.

Ms. Morgan was born and raised in Barrie, Ontario. Having called Yellowknife home for the past 15 years, she has embraced the dynamic, creative and eclectic lifestyle in Old Town near Great Slave Lake.

Ms. Morgan’s commitment to public service is evident in her two consecutive terms on Yellowknife City Council from 2015 to 2022. During this time, she held pivotal roles, including Deputy Mayor, Chair of the Community Energy Planning Committee, and Chair of the Community Advisory Board on Homelessness.

Ms. Morgan holds degrees in International Development (B.A. Hons) and International Affairs (M.A.), specializing in community economic and political development in remote and Indigenous communities globally. She worked with a grassroots cross-cultural peacebuilding movement in the Philippines from 2002 to 2003. Her master's research delved into negotiations between mineral exploration companies and First Nations in Canada, focusing on land access during the earliest stages of mineral exploration.

Over the past 15 years in Yellowknife, Ms. Morgan has prioritized work at the community level. Working with private consulting firms and a non-profit thinktank focused on clean energy, she served as a resource person to Indigenous governments and communities across the NWT. Her contributions ranged from planning renewable energy projects to housing initiatives, building cross-cultural environmental research and monitoring programs, and navigating the complexities of major resource extraction projects.

Ms. Morgan has drawn on her well-rounded skill set to diversify her professional pursuits. While serving as a City Councillor, she managed her own piano teaching studio, worked as an on-the-Land educator with Bushkids NWT, and contributed for many years as a full-time member of the Snow Castle construction crew and snow carving team. Additionally, she engaged in facilitation and consulting contracts.

Active in the arts community, Ms. Morgan provides piano accompaniment for Yellowknife’s Aurora Chorealis (adult community choir) and Fireweed Children’s Choir. She served as a Board member for the Yellowknife Women’s Society and a weekly volunteer with Food Rescue and has dedicated time to the Yellowknife Ski Club and Victim Services.

Ms. Morgan’s love for the land is palpable in her adventurous spirit. She enjoys a myriad of outdoor activities in the North across all seasons, from whitewater and flatwater canoe trips to hiking in Auyuittuq National Park and along the Canol Trail. Her passion extends to cycle touring, cross-country skiing, mountain biking, and hunting for moose and ducks with her partner.

Yellowknife North Electoral District

Committees

Shauna Morgan
Yellowknife North
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Email
Extension
12170
shaunamorgan.yknorth@gmail.com
Constituency Office
Email

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 55)

Mr. Speaker, I don't have anything more to add. I'll just ask for a recorded vote. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 55)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I want to thank the Member for Monfwi for seconding the motion, and I want to thank the Member for Range Lake for coming up with the idea for this motion in the first place, as a way to show nurses and healthcare workers that we see their struggle. We see the pain that they endure amidst staff shortages and increased demands trying to keep our healthcare system afloat and do right by the patients that they try to help day after day after night after night.

Mr. Speaker, we cannot run a good quality healthcare system if the majority of our nurses and doctors...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 55)

Mr. Speaker, I cannot support a return to the old affirmative action policy. But I also cannot give me wholehearted endorsement of the new Indigenous employment policy because I do not believe it can achieve its intended objectives.

Mr. Speaker, if this motion is asking me to take a position on which one do I support, the affirmative action policy or the Indigenous employment policy, I will do neither because I believe we are having the wrong conversation entirely.

The few constituents who did reach out to me about the Indigenous employment policy expressed a common concern, and I think it was...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 55)

Mr. Speaker, collective bargaining often ends up being a big fight. It pits employer against employee. It's seen as a zero-sum game where one side wins and one side loses. It's assumed that what the employer wants, in this case the GNWT, is to pay its staff as little as possible and get away with treating them badly. This assumption results in a very adversarial and confrontational process of collective bargaining. But what if we didn't assume that what the GNWT wants and what employees want is so different or so far apart? What if the GNWT and staff both have strong common interests, like...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 55)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following documents for the purposes of public discussion: First, A Draft for Discussion: Private Member's Bill: An Act to Amend the Public Service Act. Second, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Statement of Consistency for An Act to Amend the Public Service Act. Third, Explanation of the Proposal for a Private Member's Bill: An Act to Amend the Public Service Act. And, finally, Frequently Asked Questions on a Private Member's Bill Proposal to Address Concerns Raised by Nurses Regarding the Public Service Act - by MLA...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 55)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So we also know that as of June of last year, nurse vacancy rates ranged from 23 percent to 36 percent, depending on the type of nurse. And that's alarming enough, but if nurses are now expected to take on even more of a role in seeing patients, if there's a shortage of doctors, is the Minister confident that we currently even have enough nurse positions established, let alone the ability to fill them? So in other words, could the gap between the number of nurses we have and the number of nurses we need be even greater than those vacancy rates are showing? Thank you, Mr...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 55)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that notwithstanding Rule 2.1, when the House adjourns on Thursday, March 13, 2025, it shall be adjourned until Thursday, May 22, 2025;

AND FURTHER, that any time prior to May 22, 2025, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice;

AND THEREUPON, the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 55)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will support the amendment as it was always my intention for the committee to focus its work on the government's own legislation and policies. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 55)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS nurses and healthcare workers deliver essential healthcare services to residents of the Northwest Territories, including in rural and remote communities that present challenging operating conditions;

AND WHEREAS the delivery of quality health care in the Northwest Territories depends on a stable, well-supported workforce of regulated healthcare professionals, including nurses and allied health workers;

AND WHEREAS healthcare workers are suffering from increased workloads and staffing shortages that contribute to low morale, burnout, and reduced staff retention...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 55)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize William Gagnon who is the executive director of the NWT Medical Association who is here with us today. And also thank two of our pages who are Yellowknife North constituents. We have Ace Wickens and Solomon Young, and they're both students at William Mac School. So thanks to all the pages as well for your help this week.