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 , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 51)

So I'll just say that the court appoints legal counsel in two types of cases. The first is that involve a child protection matter initiated by child and family services, and the second is an access or parenting time dispute between parents. And in both of those instances, there's no obligation on a young child to, you know, try and navigate the justice system on their own. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 51)

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Tuesday, March 11th, 2025, I will present Bill 22, Legislation Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 51)

Thank you. So right now the plan is to, in the spring, go and do public consultation and then produce a legislative proposal by the summer and after that is approved, we can start drafting a bill which means the bill could be introduced in the winter sitting of next year. So either the February/March or maybe the May/June sitting. And then it would be with committee. So it would be sometime next year hopefully that it would be passed. And it's -- you know, it is painfully slow often, the development of legislation, because it is complex, there's loss of research that needs to happen and, you...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 51)

Thank you. The group met in September, and there was agreement to proceed with that work. So the work is not proceeded -- is not yet started, but there's an agreement to proceed. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 51)

Thank you. So the court system itself is actually tasked with that role, and they're the ones who would appoint legal counsel for the children. So we don't expect an eight-year-old to go and go to the legal aid office and take a number and wait in line and meet with a lawyer. The court would actually make that determination. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 51)

Thank you. So there's a couple of factors there. I don't believe those positions the Member referenced in her community are funded by the Department of Justice. But when looking at whether or not to expand this program, we need to look at how well it's working, and so there is the evaluation that will be undertaken. And we also need to look at available resources. And so right now I believe this is -- was initially 100 percent funded by the GNWT. The federal government did come in in 2023 and contributed 52 percent of the total cost, and so about a 50/50 split with us. We have just learned...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 51)

Thank you. The department does feel adequately resourced to do that work. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 51)

Thank you. So I have them broken down by calendar year. So in 2025, there have been eight children. 2024, 38. 2023, 34. 2022, 38. 2021, 31. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 51)

Thank you. Yes, the men's healing program, it's gone through some changes since it was first introduced. We've allowed -- or made multi-year agreements available and so for a number of years, it was fully subscribed. Perhaps I can get Mr. Bancroft to speak on this one and talk about some of the numbers involved and -- yes, I'll leave it at that. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 51)

Thank you. With your indulgence, I would like to swap out my witnesses for this section.