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

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 67)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There are no plans in place for a health cabin in Enterprise as Enterprise proximity to Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 67)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Currently -- sorry, I'm just trying to find this. Oh, right there.

Okay, so currently the wellness and recovery centre being built is going to replace the day shelter and the sobering centre. And so the funding that we have allocated for those two facilities will be used to run the operations of this facility. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 67)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. What we will be doing is we will be going to a procurement process. So that is what we would be doing. We would be looking at, you know -- yes, thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 67)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's the process that we're in right now, is that if we can pass this through the capital budget, then come springtime we'll be able to put those out to RFP.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 66)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, I appreciate the question and I think I'll be able to take this back to NTHSSA, because this is something that I have also asked for. I wanted to know the stats. I want to know how many patients are being seen in the clinics, especially here in the capital, and are those numbers increasing? What are the waitlists? So I know that they are working on some data right now, and I most recently spoke with the public administrator, and they are getting ready to provide a briefing to me on some of this data and when I do have this data, I'll be able to...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 66)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't know the circumstances and I'm not going to speak to this situation specifically. I don't know the age of the person, but I do know that our child and family services does have a voluntary service agreement that if you're over 16, and I believe that there are different circumstances around it, that, you know, if you don't have -- if you're homeless, they can work with the youth or the young adult -- or, you know, a youth, to try to find supports for them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 66)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we have done as a government with feedback from Indigenous and small communities is that we've created the Community Mental Health Awareness Fund, which is something that it incorporates for the Indigenous governments have an opportunity to apply on funding to run their own types of programs, wellness programs, recovery programs, anything that their community chooses to. Then once the initial period is open for regional Indigenous governments, after, I think it's January 31st, I can get the details and send it to the Members on this...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 66)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I will do is I will have a conversation with NTHSSA as to what has happened and what has changed, and I can report back to the Member. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 66)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, and I appreciate these questions because one of the things as, like the Member has said, I do support the work that the Office of Client Experience do and the patient advocates. I'm a champion for the work that they do. But we didn't have any actual data on the things that were being brought forward, especially when it came to Indigenous people. We've heard it multiple. We all can stand up in here and say we know that some of these issues. However, like, I'll use, for instance, medical travel. Medical travel, anybody -- I've travelled to most...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 66)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know from the information that I have that there are urgent slots at the Stanton Territorial Hospital lab site, and at the primary care lab site there are as well urgent designated times for the day. And when patients are, for instance, having surgery or something like that, they usually have a preop the day before. If they need to have blood work, they should be ensuring that they're utilizing their physician or whoever their preop was with to consult the lab to make sure that they have that appointment. And with waitlists, I know that they routinely try...