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

Oral Question 887-19(2): Community Justice Programs
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 92)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And of course the new day program ended. It was not renewed by the Department of Justice, and so I'm glad the Member today read one of the Minister of Health's old statements and not one of my old statements from last term about the new day program.

I think that so the program has ended, but the money is still there. And so what the department has done is looked at other ways to utilize that money. We found that the new day program was not working for the Northwest Territories for a number of reasons, and we didn't want to continue down that road. But we have intimate...

Oral Question 884-19(2): Paid Sick Leave and the Employment Standards Act
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 92)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I don't have that information. Most people in the most employees in this territory are governed by the Employment Standards Act. But that is not to say that none of those people have access to paid sick days because employers could offer that. So while the majority of employees in the territory are governed under this act, we don't have the number of how many don't have access to paid sick days. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral Question 876-19(2): Regional and Community Decision‐Making
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 91)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And it's a two-way relationship. The DEAs are the ones on the ground, and they often know the challenges students are facing better than anyone. And so I do meet with the education leaders, the chairs of the DEAs and the regional DECs, and we have those discussions. So I can hear exactly what is happening on the ground.

And for the information flowing the other way, we do reach out and we do explain what ECE is doing. So we've sent out the discussion papers on the Education Act, on the curriculum renewal and all of these initiatives, and we've offered briefings to the...

Tabled Document 534-19(2): What We Heard: 2021 Anti-Poverty Roundtable
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 91)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: Northwest Territories On the Land Collaborative 2021 Report; and, What We Heard 2021 AntiPoverty Roundtable. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral Question 882-19(2): Future of Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 91)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The revenue review will be completed by the end of this fiscal year.

The Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre is unique. Most museums aren't 100 percent funded by a province or territory. It's generally run by a third party who can then access federal funding. There is not a big pot of money that the GNWT can access to just build a new museum. But that being said, if we look at other ways to operate the museum perhaps we can find some of that funding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral Question 882-19(2): Future of Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 91)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We can't just change the name, as the Member says. And I think that if I would have started the process of changing the name on my first day in this position, it still wouldn't be changed because there has to be an extensive consultation process. I would not unilaterally change the name to something I thought was appropriate. There would have to be extensive consultation with Indigenous governments and the public.

The process of renaming the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre is definitely on the radar. It is something that we are looking into. And it is being...

Oral Question 876-19(2): Regional and Community Decision‐Making
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 91)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so what the Member's talking about is we wouldn't call it social passing; it's peer placement. So students are placed with their agerelated peers. So if you are of a certain age, you would be placed in a certain grade. And if you have different needs, if you perhaps aren't on the same level with certain subjects, the idea is that you would receive lesson plans and the supports you need to catch up to the rest of your peers.

In reality, I think that we realize, we see that's not the way things work. And this approach is used in many, many jurisdictions. It's not just...

Oral Question 876-19(2): Regional and Community Decision‐Making
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 91)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so as I've referenced before, the education bodies, the DECs, the DEAs, they have a lot of independence and they really run their own affairs. And so the type of training that is provided is really based on that particular DEA or DEC. So the superintendent would possibly develop some training on governance and then offer it to the new DEAs. The Member points out that there are often new members. There's elections every few years. Sometimes we have members who have been there for 20 years and they can act as a mentor, but quite often we have new members. And one of...

Bill 30: An Act to Amend the Aurora College Act
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 91)

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 30, an Act to Amend the Aurora College Act, be read for the third time. And Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you.

Oral Question 882-19(2): Future of Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 91)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've had a number of conversations with Minister Guilbeault when he was in the role of Canadian Heritage but he's no longer there, and so I have to build a new relationship with the new Minister. And that was typically around the COVID-related funding.

As for funding specifically for the museum, there is money through Canadian Heritage through the museum assistance program, I believe it's called, and they have funding for discrete projects, so minor upgrades, exhibits, things like that. And we have been successful in getting some of those funds.

That funding is something...