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 114)

Yes, I would.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 114)

In favour.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 114)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And as I said earlier, we're not going to have a school in place for this upcoming school year.

I can say that, you know, there are some roadblocks with the Education Act with the way all the districts are drawn, and so I know the Member has stated that hamlet doesn't want to work with or to have the Hay River involved but I think the Hay River DEA does need to be involved at this point. That's probably the easiest way to get things done. I've had meetings with representatives from Enterprise and the DEA, and there was discussions about perhaps starting small, having a...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 114)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, we can't have a I can't commit to having a school in place by September. Schools need to be constructed or space would need to be renovated. There would need to be amendments to likely the Education Act. There's too much work to be done to have a school in place by September.

That being said, I have met with representatives from Enterprise, and I'm happy to continue to meet with them and have discussions as well as with the Hay River DEA, who are also involved in those discussions. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 114)

Thank you. To my right, I have Andrea Giesbrecht, director of labour, development, and standards. It's her second appearance in front of committee. And on my left, Stephen Flanagan, legislative division with the Department of Justice, and it is his first time appearing in Committee of the Whole. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 114)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm here today to present Bill 47: An Act to Amend the Employment Standards Act, No. 2.

Bill 47 adds the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30th to the list of statutory holidays listed in Part 3 of the Northwest Territories’ Employment Standards Act, and includes consequential amendments to the Interpretation Act and the current Public Services Holiday Order to ensure alignment across legislation in the NWT and extend the holiday for members of the territorial public service going forward.

I am pleased to bring forward these amendments to support the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 114)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So this Assembly, it's getting near the end. This is probably our last kick at the can to get things done. And so if there's going to be a school in Enterprise, it would be a future Minister. But I spoken I've had conversations with representatives from Enterprise. I hear their passion. I hear their desire to have their children stay home, be educated in the community, and I want to continue to work with them to see that come to fruition.

Part of the issues are with the Education Act, the way that education bodies are created, and the way schools are created, and the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 114)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd be happy to meet with them. I know they have been busy lately. They've been providing evacuation services for a lot of the residents in Hay River. But if they're ready to meet or whenever they're ready to meet, I'm happy to meet with them. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 114)

Thank you. So Education, Culture and Employment oversees this act, and as such we undertook engagement on whether or not this day should be a statutory holiday in the Northwest Territories.

The Department of the Executive and Indigenous Affairs is going to be leading phase 2 of the engagement, and they are preparing an engagement plan. They will be engaging with Indigenous governments, residential school survivors, and so on, to determine how to properly commemorate the date. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 113)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And if the Member doesn't like the "Mackenzie River," he can use any of the other six official names. The Mackenzie River, in 2015, wasn't renamed per se but there were names added to it. So a single geographical feature can have multiple names, and they are all official, each one as official as the next. And so the Mackenzie River does have a number of official names. Can be used in official documents. So that work has already happened. Thank you.