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 152)

Thank you, Madam Chair. And this motion was brought forward at the clause by clause, and at that time I did not concur with it. I think there was a bit of, I think, miscommunication between myself and committee in terms of what this actual this clause meant. I think there was a perception that it meant that the complaint itself could not be discussed with anyone. But the issue was the just the identity of the complainant we did not want exposed.

This act or this bill proposes to provide child care providers with information, a summary of the complaint when it is made, which is currently not...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Yes.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Yellowknife South that Bill 79, An Act to Amend the Judicature Act, be read for the second time.

This bill amends the Judicature Act to

Replace and update references to the Agreement on Internal Trade with the Canadian Free Trade Agreement of 2017; and,

Add provisions respecting judges of the Court of Appeal who may continue to be seized of actions or causes that they have started to hear before they ceased to hold office.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Mr. Speaker, the moment we've all been waiting for. I wish to present to the House Bill 81, An Act to Amend the Education Act, No. 2, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize one of the new Aurora College board members Stephanie Irlbacher Fox. Thank you for joining us. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I agree it's a terrible situation. There's some individuals who are suffering. And if you're on income assistance, you're not making a bunch of money to begin with and so I get the concerns. And we took a more compassionate approach than other jurisdictions by exempting certain amounts, but at this point I can't commit to exempting these amounts now. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have those numbers on hand. But I can say that what the Member is speaking about is a few years ago, the Government of Canada introduced a number of different benefits for Canadians to help them get through the worst days of the pandemic. We as a department exempted CERB payments so those were not counted against income assistance applications; however, the later benefits were not exempted. And so clients who received those benefits, all they needed to do was declare that they received those. So even just verbally telling the client service officer that they...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So what this motion does is amend the motion to allow for child care centre or day home operators to disclose the identity of a complainant in certain circumstances. And so that would be when they would like to retain legal counsel to help them navigate this complaint, help them deal with the complaint, or alternatively, I recognize that not everyone wants to hire a lawyer. And really, this complaint process is not, you know, that administratively burdensome that you would necessarily need a lawyer. The later appeal process is perhaps the time when you might consider...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Thank you. I have John MacDonald, deputy minister of education, culture and employment. And Christina Duffy, director of legislation division with the Department of Justice.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here today to present Bill 68, An Act to Amend the Child Day Care Act.

The Child Day Care Act defines how children should be cared for in facilities outside of their homes in the NWT. The Act and its corresponding regulations set minimum standards for the quality, care, instruction, and supervision of children.

In December 2021, the GNWT signed the CanadaNWT Canadawide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, in which the federal government pledged to provide additional funding to reduce barriers and transform the early learning and child care system in the NWT. The...