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
Low vaccination rates put most vulnerable people at serious risk, says NWT Health Minister
March 5, 2025
CKLB 101.9 - ...weakening trust in the science, leaving residents — especially elders and children — vulnerable to preventable diseases, says Health Minister Lesa Semmler. Measles vaccination rates amongst two-year-olds have dropped from nearly 90-per-cent in 2019 to just over 82-per-cent in 2024 — well below the...
Shelter-in-place policy in works for Yellowknife hospital following weekend firearm incident
March 5, 2025
CBC North - ...MLA Kieron Testart asked why Stanton doesn't have a "code silver" shelter-in-place policy like other hospitals in Canada. Health Minister Lesa Semmler said there is a draft in place and that it's being reviewed by occupational health and safety, "and other various teams." She said RCMP will review...
American liquor purchases frozen, as GNWT does what it can in Trump Trade War
March 4, 2025
CKLB 101.9 - ...shortly to ensure wildfire management teams are fully prepared once the snow melts and the fire danger rises. Also on Tuesday, Health Minister Lesa Semmler said a policy change is in the works that would better address incidents such as the angry individual who allegedly pointed a firearm at a security...
Reid questions proposed $100K family violence budget cut
February 18, 2025
Cabin Radio - ...River, Fort Smith, Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk. Several members of the network came to the legislature to watch the discussion on Thursday last week. Lesa Semmler, the NWT’s minister of health and social services, previously told MLAs the funding being cut was used to bring shelter staff to Yellowknife for...
N.W.T. gov’t scrapping $100K to family violence shelters, shelters say bring it back
February 14, 2025
CBC North - ...of the YWCA N.W.T. "Does the minister believe that in-person connections for a sensitive sector such as this are not necessary?" Reid asked Lesa Semmler, minister of Health and Social Services, in the legislature Thursday. Semmler said the department supports family violence shelters, but she...
‘Why is our Indigenous population subject to these deplorable conditions?’
February 12, 2025
CKLB 101.9 - ...Nerysoo says despite years of complaints, medical travel patients still end up at Yellowknife’s Quality Inn Health and Social Services Minister Lesa Semmler again faced questions about complaints from community residents placed at a certain Yellowknife hotel for medical travel. Mackenzie Delta MLA...
Questions fly over health-care ‘czar,’ future of learning centres
February 11, 2025
CKLB 101.9 - ...as an opportunity and be creative in what the next chapter looks like.” Two Yellowknife MLAs appeared to get under the skin of Health Minister Lesa Semmler with repeated calls for transparency over the dissolution in December of the NWT’s Health and Social Services (NTHSSA) Leadership Council, in...
Julian Morse calls for NWT to improve respite care supports
February 6, 2025
Cabin Radio - ...than what we’re paying now.” Morse said the territory pays between $30,000 and $50,000 a month per person sent south for care. Health minister Lesa Semmler said her department is reviewing supportive needs for out-of-territory clients to help inform what would be required to offer supportive living...
Jean Marie River, N.W.T., facing outbreak of respiratory illness, chief says
January 18, 2025
CBC North - ...that he has also spoken to several other community members who have similar concerns. He said he has been in contact with N.W.T. Health Minister Lesa Semmler, and has been advocating for the Northwest Territories health authority to send staff into the community to diagnose and care for those who are ill....
Health leadership council says it was scrapped without consultation
December 10, 2024
Cabin Radio - ...authority leadership council being removed in favour of a single public administrator says the change was made without its input. Health minister Lesa Semmler is dismissing the council’s members, who previously served as the equivalent of a board of governors for the NWT’s health authority. In their...
How much federally owned housing sits empty in the NWT?
November 12, 2024
Cabin Radio - ...Chinna nearly three years ago. “With all these new units that are being for RCMP, what are we doing with the old units?” Inuvik Twin Lakes MLA Lesa Semmler asked. “Are we going to absorb them into GNWT and are we going to use those to reduce our public housing waitlist?” Chinna replied that she...
N.W.T. gov’t creating team to cut health spending
October 27, 2024
CBC North - ...Territorial Health Investment Fund. The team's yearly budget will be about $2 million, most of which will go toward salaries. Health Minister Lesa Semmler told MLAs the initiative comes at a time when the Northwest Territories health system is facing "significant financial challenges." The team will...
Yellowknife MLAs release healthcare survey findings
October 25, 2024
Cabin Radio - ...they also want to be part of the solution. Testart said workers are looking for “bold action” from the territorial government. Health minister Lesa Semmler acknowledged the NWT’s healthcare system is facing challenges like the recruitment and retention of staff. She said Stanton Territorial Hospital...
NWT public servants’ morale ‘at rock bottom,’ says MLA and former union leader
October 24, 2024
CKLB 101.9 - ...of 20.7 kilometres of the seasonal Mackenzie Valley Winter Road accessible year-around. Yellowknife Centre Robert Hawkins suggested Health Minister Lesa Semmler had been “quiet quitting,” as the health-care system has so many problem areas that never seem to be remedied. Premier R.J. Simpson, in his...
N.W.T. MLAs won’t support capital plan without more money for housing and health care
October 24, 2024
CBC North - ...fall session, which ends Nov. 1. There are five sitting days left between now and then. Stanton Hospital to review leave policy Health Minister Lesa Semmler fielded questions from multiple members Wednesday on the state of health care in the territory, including difficulties getting appointments, staff...