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 116)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a City of Yellowknife consultation process. From what I understand, it's already began. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I gave an update last week with one of my Minister's statements, and I'm always happy to discuss this exciting project. So yes, I will provide an update to the House. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The City of Yellowknife, ECE, and Aurora College have been working together to, you know, identify a site for the future polytechnic university campus in Yellowknife.

If anyone is familiar with the current campus in Yellowknife, you would know that it is small. It's cramped. It is in a location that is inconvenient for many people. There's limited parking. And there's no possibility for growth there. And so there is a need for a new campus in Yellowknife. That has been, you know, discussed many times here. And there's also need for new infrastructure in the other campus...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Abstain.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 116)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As part of the facilities master planning, students were engaged, staff were engaged, Indigenous governments were engaged, the city was engaged, and now we are in the public portion that is being run by the city. It's a city process. There will be plenty of opportunity for public input in this zoning process. And the types of things that the Member is talking about right now traffic access. Those are exactly the types of things that this established public process is going to consider. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 115)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe there's 98 organizations in the Northwest Territories all together who provide childcare and charge fees. And I can say that 100 percent of the centrebased programs that offer infant and preschool programming opted in to the childcare fee reduction subsidy for 20212022, so prior to the beginning of this fiscal year or last the end of last fiscal year as well as this current fiscal year. All but one family day home opted in to that time period as well. And all but two organizations who offer after school programs opted in for the entirety of the program...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 115)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the work is going on to create those supports so that we can go into the communities and support the teachers. So I hate to say to the Member but we are making those plans. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 115)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We've been planning to make plans, and then we've been implementing those plans. I can say that much for sure.

It is clear that we need to support small schools and the students in those schools, and that's why prior to the OAG releasing their report, we've been taking steps to better support students in small schools.

One of the biggest things is junior kindergarten. You know, that's a few years old now, but that is the age where intervention has the greatest effect. And so we've implemented that and we spend millions of dollars each year on that.

Northern distance...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 115)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Now that is not a simple answer. So what I can say is that northern distance learning has produced some amazing results. You know, I hear great stories about it. I hear about students who, you know, in small communities who are taking these, you know, advanced level courses, academic courses, and making their way to university. And it's not obvious that they would have that opportunity in their community if not for northern distance learning. So it is a very valuable project, and I'm I don't want to say proud, but I'm happy with the investments that this government and...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 115)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I know the federal government is likely going to respond to this decision by the Supreme Court, but we have no influence over the Supreme Court and the laws, the common law that they create, or the federal Department of Justice and the Criminal Code of Canada, or how the courts operate or the defence counsel or the prosecution service. So it is difficult for us to do what the Member is asking.

That being said, the case that the Member is referencing was a case where someone ingested a significant amount of psilocybin I believe, magic mushrooms. So it wasn't someone...