2023 NWT Election
Awaiting Questionnaire Response
Lesa Semmler
Candidate in the Inuvik Twin Lakes Inuvik race.
Lesa can be reached at [email protected], or by calling 867-678-0779.
News that mentions this candidate is listed at the bottom of the page.
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News that mentions Lesa Semmler
Elders in public housing should not be charged rent, says MLA
October 22, 2025
CKLB 101.9 - ...them to another jurisdiction for treatment to heal themselves, but bringing them back to an environment that made them sick.”” Health Minister Lesa Semmler said in order for a resident in the Northwest Territories to attend a treatment facility, they have to be referred by a caseworker. “That...
Wait times, community nursing, systemic racism raised by NWT MLAs
October 21, 2025
Cabin Radio - ... Asked about plans to restore the previous model of continuous physician support for community health nurses in small communities, health minister Lesa Semmler said that model had been under evaluation in Fort Good Hope. Semmler said the community hopes to complete the review of its pilot project by April...
What should change after the Jennifer Patterson case?
October 16, 2025
Cabin Radio - ...soon. “What transpired in Fort Resolution was deeply unfortunate and has provided an important learning opportunity,” said NWT health minister Lesa Semmler, a former nurse, in a statement to Cabin Radio. “I know first-hand the pressures and challenges healthcare workers face – especially in small...
ANALYIS: The unprincipled state of Jordan’s Priniciple
October 13, 2025
CKLB 101.9 - ...faced by First Nations children.) Minister of Education, Culture and Employment Caitlin Cleveland and Minister of Health and Social Services Lesa Semmler issued a joint statement on recent changes to Jordan’s Principle: “Across the Northwest Territories, children and families are being impacted...
Did Indigenous Services Canada know the NWT has almost no reserves?
June 20, 2025
Cabin Radio - ...in Inuvik in June 2025. Tony Devlin/Arctic Development Expo Premier RJ Simpson, Wawzonek, education minister Caitlin Cleveland and health minister Lesa Semmler all say they have met with federal counterparts about this issue – and others – in recent weeks. “I’m not in the room when the federal...
Indigenous leaders and GNWT reps gather in times marked by “uncertainty”
June 19, 2025
My Yellow Knife Now - ...the Tłı chǫ Government, Chief Adeline Football of the Tłı chǫ Government, Premier R.J. Simpson, Deputy Premier Caroline Wawzonek, Minister Lesa Semmler, Minister Caitlin Cleveland, Minister Vince McKay and Minister Lucy Kuptana. The Northwest Territories Council of Leaders Memorandum of...
Ministers call for federal action to protect Jordan’s Principle
June 12, 2025
My Yellow Knife Now - ...a trip to Ottawa, the Honourable Minister Caitlin Cleveland and the Honourable Minister Lesa Semmler issued a joint statement yesterday on recent changes to Jordan’s Principle, urging swift federal action to protect the program. Tłı̨chǫ Grand Chief Jackson Lafferty, Ɂek’wahtı̨dǝ́ Danny...
N.W.T. ministers press feds to maintain Jordan’s Principle funding through 2026
June 12, 2025
CBC North - ...would also mean that every Jordan's Principle funding application must come from a referral by a health-care professional. N.W.T. Health Minister Lesa Semmler said that will further strain a system already stretched thin. "When we look at the amount of children that are going to need assessments and...
Ottawa ‘undermining intent of Jordan’s Principle,’ NWT ministers say
June 11, 2025
Cabin Radio - ...staff mull future after Jordan’s Principle cuts But in a statement on Wednesday, NWT education minister Caitlin Cleveland and health minister Lesa Semmler said they were “deeply concerned about the unintended consequences of these changes, and we are urging swift federal action to protect the...
Jordan’s Principle funding shortfalls fail students with loss of teaching assistants
May 29, 2025
CKLB 101.9 - ...within the federal government that we cannot afford to take on this program should they choose not to continue it,” she said. Health Minister Lesa Semmler had to explain a flubbed roll-out of new Extended Health Benefit criteria, which saw seniors having to pay out of pocket for medicines. “In the...
MLAs vote to examine tightening their social media rules
May 29, 2025
Cabin Radio - ...And so I think it’s worthwhile for us to at least begin to look into this, because we could be heading down the path of the United States.” Lesa Semmler, the health minister, said the existing code of conduct “may not fully meet the public’s expectation in this digital age where words can spread...
Residents, downtown homeless campers ‘all have to get along,’ says Premier R.J. Simpson
May 28, 2025
CKLB 101.9 - ...drinking water from the school sources, and so this is the first time this work has been done.” Meanwhile, Health and Social Services Minister Lesa Semmler provided an update on progress being made to surgically remove racist practices from the NWT’s healthcare system. “Our government has a duty to...
Avens criticizes GNWT over $400K related to evacuation expenses
May 28, 2025
Cabin Radio - ...said could “jeopardize the future of long-term care in the NWT” if the territory does not act. In the legislature on Tuesday, health minister Lesa Semmler said the issue had “gone back and forth” and the $400,000 was judged to involve costs that were not eligible for reimbursement. Neither Avens...
MLAs turn up volume in NWT Assembly; Speaker’s temper blows
May 25, 2025
CKLB 101.9 - ...shape, or form is the respect or dignity of this process or the importance of this process diminished because of that. Meanwhile, Health Minister Lesa Semmler told the Assembly the often-criticized medical travel program is in the process of being updated.“In every community I have visited, residents...
MLA calls for regulation of NWT counsellors and psychotherapists
May 22, 2025
Cabin Radio - ...to provide safe care. Why should we not hold mental health professions to the same standards or similar standards?” Morse asked. Health minister Lesa Semmler said her department’s efforts are focused on legislative work related to professionals in fields that are already regulated. “We are not...