R.J. Simpson

Member Hay River North

Premier
Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs
Minister of Justice
Government House Leader

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

Hay River North
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Email
Extension
11120
Constituency Office

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

Phone
Minister
Email
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 103)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And like many things over the past two years, it's a story of delays. We were initially waiting for the federal government to make changes to one of their acts, the Divorce Act, which they did, then there was a federal election which meant that our discussions with the federal government on using a recalculation service under the Divorce Act were delayed. But we've restarted those and we've made significant progress, and so while we didn't hit the January 1st deadline, we're hoping by April 1st to have the draft regulations posted for public comment, and I expect that...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)

Thank you. So there's a lot of work going on right now with the SFA program review. I think it I mean, ideally, it would be great if we could compile that as part of the program review and then we could put our efforts towards that, if that's the information that's being requested, we can, you know, redirect staff efforts towards that and see what we can put together. But I'm not sure that the Member's going to get an accurate view perhaps of what he's looking for. If someone calls their SFA officer and, you know, has a conversation about, you know, wanting to, you know, not have to pay back...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)

Thank you. Because of the timing of these main estimates, we show a decline of positions, but it's because we are it's the timing of when we sign our federal agreements. So there's no intention to lose these positions but the agreement was not signed in time to have it printed in the main estimates. So that money will come forward through a SUP, and those positions will reappear through that SUP. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The commanding officer of Gdivision also has an Indigenous advisory committee, and they meet biannually. It's made up of community members and elders.

Of course, people may remember the RCMP is also working with the Dene Nation on an innovative program that is well underway, that was announced last year. And the GNWT, the RCMP, and Salt River First Nation are working together to address some of the outstanding issues out of that jurisdiction. So there's lots of work underway. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)

Thank you. There's a pretty good uptake across the territory. I'm not sure if there's a regional breakdown that departmental officials might have. I'll send it to Mr. MacDonald. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)

Thank you. And to the Member's earlier comment, there is a victims services review, and that has been provided, but we can package that up and provide it again, as well as our response to that, because it did make a number of recommendations,and we have followed through on a number of those.

This guns and gangs strategy funding is federal, and there's interest, not just from us but from all of the jurisdictions from what I can tell based on my recent meetings, in not just maintaining but enhancing this funding. So there is all of the provinces and territories are putting pressure on the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I can't I don't have anything to add to what Mr. Bancroft said. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)

Thank you, Madam Chair. We shouldn't have sent Mr. Saturnino away. I don't have that information. We can provide some information back to the Member, though. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)

Thank you. For some detail on this item, I can ask the deputy minister to answer. Thanks.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I haven't read the report but when the Member brought it to my attention, I did have a brief look at it. The department is aware of the report, and one of the things about having a national body like the RCMP is that all jurisdictions share information and so the NWT does work especially closely with the Yukon and Nunavut. So that information is shared between the jurisdictions as well. So there is definitely an awareness of that report and its findings. Thank you.