2023 NWT Election
Awaiting Questionnaire Response
Lesa Semmler
Candidate in the Inuvik Twin Lakes Inuvik race.
Lesa can be reached at InuvikTwinLakes2023@gmail.com, or by calling 867-678-0779.
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News that mentions Lesa Semmler
Taught to be advocates: N.W.T. midwives protest proposed cuts to Yellowknife program
May 31, 2024
CBC North - ...midwife services in Hay River and Fort Smith. Those two communities each staff two registered midwives, with vacancies in each. Health Minister Lesa Semmler said that supporting services in those communities is also a reason to cut the Yellowknife program and refocus their support to communities that...
NWT residents protest against planned midwifery budget cuts
May 31, 2024
Cabin Radio - ...Radio Fort Smith became the first NWT community to have a midwifery program, followed by Hay River. In the legislature on Tuesday, health minister Lesa Semmler said that is where the focus must remain. “Right now, we are barely filling those positions in those two communities, where there are no prenatal...
No free ticket home for residents injured while outside NWT, says minister
May 30, 2024
CKLB 101.9 - ...with each passing day, which as a result is creating a lot of unnecessary added stress that he should not have to deal with.” Health Minister Lesa Semmler was sympathetic to the situation, but held fast to NWT Health’s policy, which is posted on its website. It recommends travel insurance, when...
‘Who runs this territory? The drug trade is winning,’ says Monfwi MLA
May 28, 2024
CKLB 101.9 - ...without a trial. Also in the Assembly today: Robert Hawkins, MLA for Yellowknife Centre and Great Slave MLA Kate Reid pressed Health Minister Lesa Semmler to the point of exasperation about the lack of midwives in the NWT, especially Indigenous ones. “They are more than just ‘baby catchers,’...
NWT’s new budget is ‘a financial Frankenstein’s monster’
May 28, 2024
Cabin Radio - ...to phase out the use of those nurses by 2026 alongside work to create an environment that attracts and retains healthcare workers. Health minister Lesa Semmler said she would “rather not” use agency nurses and the territory is working to address healthcare staffing issues. Semmler said, however, she...
Health-care staff shortage a ‘crisis,’ MLA proposes task force
May 27, 2024
CKLB 101.9 - ...$4.4 million last year on private agency nurses. He noted that of 84 non-agency, regular nurses hired last year, 69 have left. Health Minister Lesa Semmler responded that currently there are “just five agency nurses,” and all in obstetrics. She said recruitment and retention have been problematic...
‘No need to overcomplicate’ NWT nursing licences
May 13, 2024
Cabin Radio - ...to Cabin Radio that a meeting involving Sarah, her partner and CANNN had taken place. Hawkins believes there is a role to play for health minister Lesa Semmler and her department, as well as others, in solving the issue Sarah described. Previously, a spokesperson for Semmler said she was “eager to...
MLAs bring Missing Persons bill to Beaufort Delta for review
April 12, 2024
CKLB 101.9 - ...Jr. case, and that’s why we came up here to go to Aklavik and hear directly from the family and the community.” Former Inuvik Twin Lakes MLA Lesa Semmler told the NWT Assembly in late May 2023 she had spoken with Frank’s mother. She wondered if this was a case of a non-Indigenous person “from a...
NWT plans to expand detox, withdrawal management
March 7, 2024
Cabin Radio - ...NWT’s health minister says her department plans to improve the coordination and delivery of addictions care. Lesa Semmler said that will mean creating a territorial addictions medicine team and hiring clinical staff specialized in addictions. The Department of Health and Social Services will spend the...
NWT’s new ministers face community leaders’ annual ‘bear pit’
March 6, 2024
Cabin Radio - ...is known as “the bear pit” for the likelihood that pointed questions will be fiercely asked. At the session in Hay River, health minister Lesa Semmler said a federal program is hampering efforts to deliver dental services in the North. Premier RJ Simpson told communities he will focus on the work...
Assembly update for February 29
March 1, 2024
CKLB 101.9 - ...and unheard. “Does the Minister agree that Tylenol is being over-prescribed to residents in our smaller communities?” Health Minister Lesa Semmler had earlier made a lengthy statement about the challenges the territory faces attracting and retaining doctors and nurses. Replying to the MLA,...
Dental care increases medical travel, need for beds in Yellowknife
February 28, 2024
CBC North - ...the Northwest Territories have been increasing the need for beds in Yellowknife, forcing patients to be sent to stay elsewhere. Health Minister Lesa Semmler said when the boarding home in Yellowknife gets full, it uses local hotels for patients who need a place to stay while attending appointments in the...
NWT set to explore boarding home options as MLA raises concerns
February 27, 2024
Cabin Radio - ...Yellowknife amid concern about existing capacity. Asked by Mackenzie Delta MLA George Nerysoo if anyone had looked at building a new boarding home, Lesa Semmler said private companies and Indigenous governments had expressed interest in developing “plans to meet the NWT’s medical travel boarding home...
NWT to raise agency nursing issue ‘at the national level’
February 22, 2024
Cabin Radio - ...NWT’s health authority, only to see agency nurses come in, take home more pay for the time they’re here, then leave. However, health minister Lesa Semmler says if the choice is between agency nurses or closing down services, she has to choose the agency. “This is not something we want to do,” she...
‘No layoffs’ as Covid-19 funding ends, says health minister
February 21, 2024
Cabin Radio - ...temporary funding to boost the hospital’s capacity ended on March 31. Answering questions from Frame Lake MLA Julian Morse in the legislature, Lesa Semmler said: “There are no layoffs in the NTHSSA as a result of this sunsetting funding.” The health minister continued: “It’s important to...