Lesser Slave Lake MLA Danielle Larivee receives the Friend of Northern Lakes College Award. Left-right, are NLC board chair Daniel Vandermeulen, Larivee and NLC president Ann Everatt.

Richard Froese
Spotlight
Northern Lakes College has awarded a local MLA for strong support to the regional college.

Lesser Slave Lake MLA and Children’s Services Minister Danielle Larivee was presented the Friend of Northern Lakes College award at its convocation ceremonies June 2 in High Prairie.

“Minister Larivee is a strong advocate of post-secondary education and lifelong learning,” board chair Daniel Vandermeulen says.
“She believes all northern residents should be able to access education and strongly supports NLC’s distributed supported learning model.”

Annually, the award is presented to a person with demonstrated commitment to the success of the college and a role model actively supporting post-secondary education.

“It’s truly an honour to receive this,” says Larivee, a former instructor in the practical nurse program in Slave Lake.
“I will continue to be a cheerleader for Northern Lakes College to continue to be accessible to northern communities.”

Larivee has been a registered nurse for more than 17 years after she received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Alberta.

She has spent most of her working career as a registered nurse and homecare nurse.

“Northern Lakes College has a strong reputation for developing leaders who are breaking new ground and making valuable contributions to our society,” Larivee says as she gave the keynote address.

She explained her passion for the college.

“For all of us, Northern Lakes College represents opportunity for a bright future for yourselves, for those you care about and for our province,” Larivee says as she spoke to the graduands.
“That’s why I always love having the opportunity to talk to students, teachers and community leaders here about how we can work together to support that opportunity.”

Larivee was elected to the Alberta legislature for her first term in May 2015.

She was appointed minister of municipal affairs on Oct. 22, 2015 before she was shuffled to children’s services on Jan. 19, 2017.