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
Email
Phone
867-767-9141
Extension
11120
Constituency Office

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

Phone
867-874-6301
Minister
Email
Email
Premier of the Northwest Territories, Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, Minister of Justice, Government House Leader

Statements in Debates

Committee Motion 193-19(2): Tabled Document 561-19(2): Main Estimates 2022-2023 – Infrastructure – Deferral of Department, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)

Thank you, Madam Chair. To your left, we have Sam Shannon, assistant deputy minister of corporate services; and to your right, John MacDonald, deputy minister. Thank you.

Committee Motion 193-19(2): Tabled Document 561-19(2): Main Estimates 2022-2023 – Infrastructure – Deferral of Department, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)

Thank you. And so we work with the Indigenous governments. That's who our partners are on this. The mentors receive the starting compensation rate is $25 an hour, and the apprentices receive $20 an hour. Thank you.

Committee Motion 193-19(2): Tabled Document 561-19(2): Main Estimates 2022-2023 – Infrastructure – Deferral of Department, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)

Thank you. So I believe the arts council just overspent that year by 10,000. Perhaps I can ask Mr. Shannon for some more detail on that. Thank you.

Committee Motion 193-19(2): Tabled Document 561-19(2): Main Estimates 2022-2023 – Infrastructure – Deferral of Department, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)

Thank you. I believe the grants were perhaps I'll ask the deputy minister. Thanks.

Committee Motion 193-19(2): Tabled Document 561-19(2): Main Estimates 2022-2023 – Infrastructure – Deferral of Department, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)

Thank you. Madam Chair, I'm here to present the Department of Education, Culture and Employment's main estimates for the fiscal year 20222023. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of $5.159 million, or 1.46 percent, over the 20212022 Main Estimates. These estimates support the mandate objectives while continuing to meet the GNWT’s fiscal objectives to prioritize responsible and strategic spending.

Highlights of these proposed estimates include forced growth funding of $778,000, including:

an additional $645,000 to address the increased demand on the senior citizen's...

Committee Motion 193-19(2): Tabled Document 561-19(2): Main Estimates 2022-2023 – Infrastructure – Deferral of Department, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)

Thank you. I don't have that level of detail with me.

Committee Motion 193-19(2): Tabled Document 561-19(2): Main Estimates 2022-2023 – Infrastructure – Deferral of Department, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)

Thank you. So through the capital process, we are looking at ways to enhance the ability of the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre to, you know, store and display art. There is not the level of federal funding that one might think available for things like this. It's actually quite limited. Generally, museums, art galleries are not 100 percent funded by a provincial or territorial government. Again, there's other avenues for funding and so we are exploring, you know, how to perhaps access some of those other avenues and how we can perhaps tie in with some other projects that might be...

Committee Motion 193-19(2): Tabled Document 561-19(2): Main Estimates 2022-2023 – Infrastructure – Deferral of Department, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)

Thank you. So that is related to the extension of the CanadaNWT agreement on early living and childcare, so not the Canadawide. Thank you.

Question 954-19(2): Increasing Costs of Policing Services in the Northwest Territories
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have significant concerns about the transparency and accountability of the RCMP so I haven't had those types of conversations. That said, I do have regular conversations with the commanding officer of Gdivision; the department has regular conversations as well. So those conversations are ongoing. And noting the your comments earlier, I will keep this last remark brief. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Committee Motion 193-19(2): Tabled Document 561-19(2): Main Estimates 2022-2023 – Infrastructure – Deferral of Department, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)

Thank you. So the numbers in the budget are what's in the budget so there are no increases this year. That being said, the numbers in here don't represent the totality of the funding that heritage centres receive from the GNWT. ITI also provides funding to heritage centres. It's not specific for heritage centres but they can and have accessed to ITI funding a number of times to undertake capital upgrades to their facilities and whatnot. But the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre also provides inkind support. So, you know, we have staff from the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre...