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 , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 55)

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that Bill 23, An Act to Amend the Children's Law Act, be read for the second time.

This bill will bring the Northwest Territories Children's Law Act in line with changes to the federal Divorce Act that came into force in 2021. The bill will also allow for the collection, use, and disclosure of information for the purposes of the child support recalculation service and will make an amendment to provide greater flexibility for the judiciary to create broadly applicable rules of court. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 54)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll have to take that on notice.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 54)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, of course, I'm always here in the House to answer questions, so that's a transparency method that works across government. But the results are going to be -- or sorry, the accountability is going to be in the results. I hope to be able to show this House and show Members that, with the support of the envoy and the entire GNWT, we're actually getting things done. And so I don't have -- you know, I don't have a framework to parse out, you know, what percentage of that success is attributable to this role. But the fact is that, you know, I am here to be held to...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 54)

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to announce the establishment of the Bobbi Hamilton Memorial Award for Outstanding Community Achievement. The Department of Justice is establishing this award to recognize individuals who demonstrate the principles that Bobbi embraced in her daily life.

Bobbi Hamilton was a dedicated and respected community justice coordinator in Hay River for 15 years during which time she worked with hundreds of youths and adults in the community justice program. Sadly, Bobbi passed in November last year. She leaves a legacy of championing restorative justice, helping others, and...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 54)

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 22, Legislation Act, be read for the second time.

The proposed Legislation Act sets out comprehensive rules about the processes for enacting, certifying, and publishing laws in the Northwest Territories and for ensuring laws remain up to date. This will consolidate existing provisions about these processes that are found separately in several statutes and will update and modernize current practices. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 54)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present to the House Bill 23, An Act to Amend the Children's Law Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 54)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know we're not supposed to get into hypotheticals here on the floor, so I'll leave that one alone. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 54)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's very complicated. So the legislation that would be required is a Police Act which is the type of legislation that would allow municipalities to set up their own police forces and things like that. So it's not a simple community safety officer piece of legislation; it's much broader.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 54)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the idea behind the envoy is to have a dedicated, proactive, and strategic link between the political offices in Ottawa and the political offices here in the Northwest Territories. That's what's often needed to get things moving. And as to whether or not the position is permanent, well nothing in politics is permanent, so I can't speak for the future of the position past this government. And even during the life of this government, we'll see things work. I think too often the government will make a decision and then stick with it whether or not it's working. I'm...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 54)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There's no doubt that the focus these days is on the economy, and that's across Canada. You know, because we're facing a threat from an external actor who is really threatening our economic stability and viability of our country. So the economy is going to loom large with the role of the senior envoy. And the purpose of this role is to have a connection with Ottawa so that we can move things along. There's big projects that we can't do ourselves here in the Northwest Territories. Things like the Mackenzie Valley Highway, we'll definitely need federal support for that...