Member Hay River North

Premier
Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs

R.J. Simpson was elected to the 20th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly, representing the constituency of Hay River North. On December 7th, 2023, Mr. Simpson was elected Premier of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Simpson was formerly acclaimed to the 19th Legislative Assembly and first elected into the 18th Assembly in 2015.

Mr. Simpson was Deputy Speaker of the 18th Assembly, Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, and the Chair of the Special Committee on Transition Matters. Mr. Simpson was also a member of the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning and the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment.

Mr. Simpson is a lifelong resident of Hay River After graduating from Diamond Jenness Secondary School in 1998 Mr. Simpson went on to obtain a Bachelor of Arts from MacEwan University and a law degree from the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Law.

Mr. Simpson has previously worked with the Government of Canada, Northern Transportation Company Ltd, Métis Nation Local 51, and Maskwa Engineering.

While at law school, Mr. Simpson was the President of the Aboriginal Law Students’ Association. He has also served on the board of the Soaring Eagle Friendship Centre in Hay River and volunteered with the Canada-Ghana Education Project.

Hay River North Electoral District

Committees

R.J. Simpson
Hay River North
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Constituency Office

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

Minister
Premier of the Northwest Territories, Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, Minister of Justice, Government House Leader

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

Thank you. So those are there's definitely connections there. I know that the provider in Hay River who receives who had received funding under this has worked with those individuals who are in that world. But the initiatives like the Member is talking about would be undertaken by the RCMP as opposed to community justice necessarily. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

Yes, we can do that. Thanks.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

Thank you. So you know, what might happen in the future I can't say. While I'm not necessarily supportive of the idea of taking a siloed program, replicating it elsewhere and saying we're expanding, you know, integrated service delivery, so in that sense I would say no, we're not looking to duplicate this. However, there is a recognition that people do need that sort of one window access. And I've heard a lot about it, I've talked a lot about it, and so we are examining ways that we can make that happen outside of Yellowknife. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

I do.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

Thank you. I'll have to I'm not sure if there's any right now actually. But I can find out and get back to the Member. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

Thank you. So the Department of Justice rarely has any unspent funds. We have a couple large divisions or contracts that generally eat up all of our excess funds. So if I had excess funds to put into certain things, I would do that, but that's generally not the situation here with Justice. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

Thank you. Those have been a bit of a struggle to set up. There has not been the uptake that we would have hoped. I know that the one for NSCC I believe came together a little quicker than the other ones. So maybe I'll hand it to the deputy minister to see if she can provide us with an update of where they all are right now. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

Thank you. Yes, the Office of the Rental Officer produces an annual report every year, and there are wait times in there. The last report that I reviewed stated that the time from an application to a conclusion can the timeline can't be shrunk any further because of the timelines that are required for parties to provide documentation and things like that. So unless we reduce the amount of time that people have to respond and thereby perhaps impacting the you know, the administrative fairness, those times won't be reduced. We have seen a significant decline in the amount of time people are...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

Monsieur le President, as we enter the month of March, we recognize Rendezvous de la Francophonie. As the Minister responsible for the Official Languages Act, it is encouraging to see such awareness, involvement, and celebration of all of the Northwest Territories' 11 official languages.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Rendezvous de la Francophonie, a celebration by Canada's ten million Frenchspeakers, and all Canadians, in recognition of French language and culture. This year, the theme is Celebrations, with a focus across the country on joy, festivities, gathering, and fun.

Monsieur...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

Thank you. So all of that work we spoke about earlier that would allow people to appear remotely installing videoconferencing systems, that accounts for that those funds. Thank you.