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

Lesa Semmler
Inuvik Twin Lakes
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Email
Constituency Office

125 Mackenzie Rd
Unit 203
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 62)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, I will be having this conversation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 62)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe the only -- within the legislation, but don't quote me because I don't have it in front of me, so I won't go into details. I know that there's traditional feasts that are exempted through this, otherwise I would have to get back to the Member. There isn't apparently any changes that it is -- or it hasn't been enforced previously. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 62)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we heard loud and clear from many users of the service is that there used to be a -- you needed a pre-approval just to be able to apply for this program. That has been removed. But what I would like to go back to is the expedient of the facility-based addiction program. There is a necessary -- you know, and I know that when people are ready to go, they might be ready today, there is a process still that can take -- you know, it can be up to -- once you have a caseworker, can take three to five weeks to get into a facility. The reason...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 62)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, June is the month of graduation in Inuvik. We'll be -- you know, when I get home, I'll be able to partake in the grade 12 graduation at East Three Secondary where we have a large graduating class, so I'd like to congratulate all of those grade 12 graduates.

But we also have our kindergarten graduation which is an amazing time for the littles to be able to celebrate them moving into their primary class. And one of the other graduating classes is the grade 6 graduation. In Inuvik, we have always historically had our elementary school and our high school, so...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 62)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: The 2025-2026 Health and Social Services Authority Budgets Summary. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 62)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Member for bringing this to my attention today as I am currently dealing with the traditional feast one, so I will add that to the list that I will follow up and bring, and if there's more that you want to discuss this, I'll be willing to have this conversation further, if there's other things that we need to look into under this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 62)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, aftercare -- this is one of the concerns that we do have a gap in and so -- but what we do have the gap in is the living accommodations. For those who go out to facility-based addiction treatment, if they're going from homelessness then they're not coming back to a home, so we -- you know, we are working on a transitional housing after recovery program. We just recently announced that the one in Yellowknife will -- you know, and then the -- we have one kind of be coming online in Inuvik. But aftercare is just the support, so there are some of the facility...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 62)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the question and, you know, this is -- I received BFs on this. And so one of the things that I've asked my department to do is to look at the front-facing and, you know, when a lot of times when people are looking, you know, we tend to search online and so that was the first thing that, you know, we look at is how do we find what we service providers are offering. And it is very difficult on our website to find facility-based addiction treatment and how to access it. So that is one of the directions that I've given to the department. But...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 61)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, what I would like to say is the benefit -- pharmacy -- I don't know how to say it very easily without a lot of words in this time because our medical -- our extended health benefits is multiple programs together. So pharmacy goes through Alberta, and there is the changes that were made and they implement our senior benefits and our extended health benefits and our Metis benefits. But for each program, they're supposed to be simultaneously done. The one thing that we were looking at under Restoring Balance was how do we -- you know, if there's changes...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 61)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as long as I am the Minister, there will be no changes to the senior benefits as all of the benefits that are on the table -- like I said, even with the extended benefits, those changes, we're going to be doing the review so those discussions will happen later on this winter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.