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

Accountability and Oversight
Social Development
Economic Development & Environment
Shauna Morgan
Yellowknife North
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Email
Email
Phone
(867) 767-9143
Extension
12170
Constituency Office

Statements in Debates

Question 59-20(1): Retention Strategies for Healthcare Professionals
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 6)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that the Minister might not have this data at her fingertips now, but can the Minister commit to providing Members with the total cost spent on agency nurses and locum doctors for this past fiscal year and compare that to preCOVID times showing trends over time, so providing the stats on cost spent on agency nurses and locum doctors over time?

Question 59-20(1): Retention Strategies for Healthcare Professionals
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 6)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. So noting in the Minister's statement today that one of our current initiatives is employee engagement for retention, can the Minister describe any specific retention strategy that we currently have in place that would hopefully lead us to decrease our reliance on agency nurses and locum doctors? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Member’s Statement 73-20(1): Staffing the Health Care System
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 6)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So in trying to pinch pennies, we are costing our system dearly. Increasing hostility and miscommunication between staff and administration lead to a downward spiral of morale and an increasing spiral of costs.

Mr. Speaker, we need to put resident health care professionals at the centre of any strategy moving forward, to communicate clearly with them, to find out what they need to avoid burnout, to treat them as partners in designing a sustainable health care system. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 6)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So I know that the purpose of this interim budget is to keep the lights on, keep core operations going. And in terms of health and social services, some of our essential services that we provide to our vulnerable populations, some of them we provide directly through the department of HSS, such as our day shelter here in town, and those operations will continue. And as we've seen it's much more expensive to run it inhouse so instead we often contract out some of these essential services to nonprofits and agencies.

So one example of this is the Yellowknife Women's Society...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 6)

So the government can confirm that the estimates here are based on the previous funding arrangements with child care providers and not on any estimates of a new funding mechanism?

Motion 16-20(1): Appointment of Deputy Chairpersons of Committee of the Whole
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 6)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Thursday, February 22nd, 2024, I will move the following motion:

Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that the Member for Deh Cho, Sheryl Yakeleya; and, the Member for Sahtu, Daniel McNeely, are hereby chosen to be the deputy chairpersons of the Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 59-20(1): Retention Strategies for Healthcare Professionals
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 6)

I will just add a final request is whether the Minister can commit to providing us with similar statistics on overtime costs from I would like it specifically for Stanton Hospital that show trends over the past decade from preCOVID to the present. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 59-20(1): Retention Strategies for Healthcare Professionals
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 6)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a followup, can the Minister explain how we're monitoring progress on retention over time? So specifically on retention, I know it's easy to combine recruitment and retention, but I'm specifically talking about retention in this case, but are we monitoring progress and monitoring retention rates over time and publishing the results of that?

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 6)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize three of the pages that are helping us out here today from Yellowknife North. We have Kijel Ulbricht, Kaize Roach, and Kate McShane. Thank you for your work here today. And a visitor in the gallery from my riding, Georgina Rolt.

Member’s Statement 73-20(1): Staffing the Health Care System
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 6)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to talk about health care which is clearly a priority for Members here although perhaps we have different areas of top concern.

It's our largest operating budget. And to be clear, a lot is at stake here. Much more than money. It's a matter of preserving lives and taking care of people when they're suffering the most and providing a sense of security for our families, as Mr. Nerysoo was just describing. But it should alarm us that NTHSSA has been bleeding money since it was established with an accumulated deficit of at least $200 million.

Now, I have many...