Député de Hay River Nord

Premier ministre
Ministre de l’Exécutif et des Affaires autochtones

R.J. Simpson a été élu à la 20e Assemblée, représentant la circonscription de Hay River Nord. Le 7 décembre 2023, M. Simpson a été élu premier ministre de la 20e Assemblée législative des Territoires du Nord-Ouest.

M. Simpson a été élu par acclamation à la 19e Assemblée législative et élu pour la première fois à la 18e Assemblée en 2015.

M. Simpson a été élu pour la première fois à la 18e Assemblée législative en 2015. M. Simpson a été président adjoint de la 18e Assemblée législative, vice-président du Comité permanent des opérations gouvernementales et président du Comité spécial sur les questions de transition. M. Simpson a également siégé au Comité permanent des priorités et de la planification, de même qu’au Comité permanent du développement économique et de l’environnement.

M. Simpson a habité à Hay River toute sa vie. Après avoir obtenu son diplôme d’études secondaires à l’école secondaire Diamond Jenness en 1998, il a décroché un baccalauréat ès arts à l’Université MacEwan et un diplôme en droit à la faculté de droit de l’Université de l’Alberta.

M. Simpson a précédemment travaillé pour le gouvernement du Canada, la Northern Transportation Company limitée, la section locale no 51 des Métis, et Maskwa Engineering.

Pendant ses études en droit, M. Simpson a été président de l’association des étudiants en droit autochtones. Il a également siégé au conseil d’administration du Centre d’amitié Soaring Eagle, à Hay River, et donne de son temps au projet d’éducation Canada-Ghana.

Committees

R.J. Simpson
Hay River Nord
Bureau

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Boîte
1320
Bureau de circonscription

62, promenade Woodland, bureau 104
Hay River Nord NT X0E 1G1
Canada

Ministre
Premier ministre des Territoires du Nord-Ouest, Ministère de l’Exécutif et des Affaires autochtones, Ministre de la Justice

Déclarations dans les débats

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 61)

I just saw the Member's questions earlier today, and I already started those conversations with the department to figure out if there is a way that we can get that information public.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 60)

In the territory, I know that RCMP officers undergo trauma-informed training and cultural awareness training. Right now, if they respond to an issue where there is a mental health issue, which is quite frequent, there is not a mental health specialist who accompanies them. Frankly, there are just not the resources for that, at this point, but those are the kinds of things that we need to look at. I'm happy to have those conversations with the department of health and see what options are available. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 60)

Emergency protection orders are temporary court orders up to 90 days, and they are available under the Protection Against Family Violence Act. Of course, there has been a report highlighting some of the deficiencies, and so Justice is working with its partners to identify ways to fix those. It's not a perfect solution, obviously. There are communities with no RCMP, and so a piece of paper doesn't feel like it makes you very safe. It's not a perfect fix, but that is what is in place.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 60)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all share in the responsibility of ensuring that our schools and communities are safe spaces. Today, we take a moment to pause and reflect on how each of us contributes to safe spaces where bullying is prevented whenever possible and quickly addressed when it occurs.

As I am sure all Members of this House are aware, bullying can occur to anyone of any age at any time. It occurs when aggressive and repeated behaviours happen between one or more people in a real or perceived power imbalance. This imbalance can be based on a range of factors from size, age, or ethnicity...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 60)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table to following document: "Northwest Territories Law Foundation 37th Annual Report, July 1, 2018-June 30, 2019." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 60)

Of course, the department of health offers a lot of support through counselling services, and you can always contact those providers in communities. As far as Justice, there is the NWT Victims Services program. What Justice does is provide funding to 11 community-based groups who are situated across the territory, and they provide services to victims. It could just be emotional support, direction on how to navigate the system, what to do, where to go, where they might find a safe place, things like that, and that contact information can be found on the Justice website.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 60)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Most of those supports are offered in the corrections system, seeing as how that is how Justice usually interacts with people who need those supports. There are psychologists in the North Slave and the South Slave, and there are counsellors in all of the facilities. There are traditional healing programs at the South Slave; it especially has a lot of programs like that. There is an Indigenous pre-treatment healing program, which is made in the North. We hope to roll that out to other areas, as well. There is a Northern Sessions program, which offers treatment; I wouldn...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 59)

It would be great to have "one system to rule them all" and not have to worry about trying to mesh different systems together, but the fact is that it's difficult. We know that from systems that we currently have that do not talk to each other, and so we really need to know a lot more about what we are going to do. We really need a solid plan before we invest in something like that. At this point, there is not a plan to create this system, but we really do need to put in the work to make sure that we do not just spend a whole bunch of money for nothing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 59)

As to the city's initiative, the territorial director of integrated service delivery has committed to joining any of those discussions and participating and contributing and learning. What we are looking at is seeing how we can perhaps co-locate services and collaborate in other ways immediately instead of waiting for this giant shift to take place, so that work is happening right now. There are some examples. There are things like the child- and youth-care counsellors; obviously, integrated case management; family preservation workers; the territorial-based support teams in ECE. There are a...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 59)

We're breaking down silos here, and my colleague from the Department of Finance helped put this answer together. I'm just going to read it verbatim so that I don't mess it up. No shooting from the hip this time.

The Department of Finance is launching an anti-racism campaign through the months of March and April. The campaign will include printed and video resources that encourage public servants to explore anti-racism and to take action against all forms of racism, along with virtual training and workshops.

This month, the department is also rolling out training for all employees on Indigenous...