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 139)

Thank you, Madam Speaker. So we did reach out. The level of engagement wasn't what we would have hoped. Nonetheless, we did identify some areas for improvement. And so the Member can see the result of that engagement in the changes that were made to our nominee program stream, so changes to job advertising requirements and some other streamlining efforts. So that is where she can find those results. The proof is in the pudding. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 139)

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The quota, as dictated by the Government of Canada, was established years ago. I would have to assume it's based on our population. I would imagine that as soon as we hit that quota, that quota would be increased. We're never going to be continuously hitting the quota. We always want to strive for better. I will say that during the life of this government, we have done a lot in terms of immigration and increasing the population, you know, and I'm happy to announce that since I took office we've doubled the number of people coming in through our nominee program. Back...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 138)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Followup letter for Oral Question 127419(2): Aurora College University Campus Accessibility. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 138)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, that work is underway. As I stated, the Department of Infrastructure is actually looking at a couple students in different regions to take them on as SNAP students. So that work is happening. And, again, I'll say that when I came into this role I really did start pushing apprenticeships. Not that the department wasn't pushing them before but it really was one of my focuses. And, you know, we've seen more efforts gone into this area and we're continuing to see that. You can see it through the collaboration between ECE, the Department of Infrastructure, and other...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 138)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And just to correct the record, there are 24 SNAP students in the territory and 14 SNAP apprentices. After a student graduates from being a SNAP student, they can become an actual apprentice in the SNAP program. So some of the barriers are the fact that we only have so many employers and so many students in the territory. It is not always easy for employers and especially small employers to take on apprentices, although the government does provide funding for that. There are issues around and I'll say that we've had trouble attracting people in the trades for a while...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 138)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Summer students falls under the I guess the purview of the Department of Finance. That's generally where those types of questions go. Nonetheless, I'm happy to promote the idea of hiring students to my Cabinet colleagues, and I'll do that wholeheartedly. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 138)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A lot of assumptions in that statement there. One of the first assumptions was that I have the whole government at my disposal. And I wish that was the case but that is not the case. And the other assumption is that I can make something like this happen. The fact is that we need students and we need employers to get together and work on this. And we are making efforts. There have been advances in the past few years; we've seen the numbers increase. And we are now working as a government to explore how we can get SNAP students into employment with the Government of the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 137)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So there are currently a few options for people. Students can take upgrading at Aurora College. They can take the adult literacy and basic education program. And so that is it's upscaling programming, and there are no tuition associated with this program. There's also the university and college access program and the occupation and college access program at the college. There are fees associated with this, but they are supported through student financial assistance.

As the Member has stated, and I've also stated, we are aware there is a gap here despite these programs...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 137)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Attendance data is tracked. The most recent data that we have has been published, and that was for I believe the 20202021, and that is in our JK to 12 performance and measures report. That information states that territorywide, the attendance rate was 79.9 percent. In Yellowknife, 87.23 percent. In regional centres, 76.3 percent. And in small communities, 72.8 percent. However, I will note that attendance can be difficult to take when things are done virtually, and teachers don't necessarily see the students. So like most things, the stats from COVID are not perhaps as...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 137)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that question deserves a full answer so what I'm going to do is take it on notice, and I'll return to the House with an answer. Thank you.