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
Extension
11120
Constituency Office

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

Phone
Minister
Email
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 83)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So in the 2020-2021 fiscal year, there were 692 people who accessed the Legal Aid Outreach Clinic. 46 percent of those people were in Yellowknife and the rest were throughout the territory, and it roughly breaks down to the populations of the specific regions. So the South Slave region had about 15 percent of the people, the Inuvik region about 15 percent, and so on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 81)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, November 24th, 2021, I will move that Bill 39, An Act to Amend the Post-Secondary Education Act be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 81)

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, November 24th, 2021, I will move that Bill 37, an Act to Amend the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 81)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following three documents: Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 13-19(2), Report on the Review of the 2019-2020 Ombud Annual Report; Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 15-19(2), Report on the Review of the Auditor General's 2020 Audit of Early Childhood to Grade 12 Education in the NWT; and Additional Follow-Up for Oral Question 497-19(2), Corrections Workplace Assessment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 81)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I am speaking in support for the Member from Thebacha.

These types of comments I don't think would be appropriate at any work site if you do your job, I'm coming after you. I think that this is probably the most clear a case I've seen where there's a breach of privilege. It's not very  there's not a lot of gray area here. This is very black and white.

You might think that the comment is a little vague, and it is. It's not clear what it's referencing but, you know, other Members have commented that if you look at the timeline, it is right before the sole adjudicator...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 81)

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, November 24th, 2021, I will move that Bill 38, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act 2021 be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 81)

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, November 24th, 2021, I will move that Bill 36, an Act to Amend the Territorial Court Act be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 81)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I just want to keep us on track. So right now, we're discussing a point of privilege related to threatening comments that have been made, and we're not discussing the motion in the report as you had just mentioned. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 80)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the work to determine when that happens is underway. We are going to do a full review of arts funding programs across the territory. This isn't something that can be done in isolation, just creating an arts council. We need to take stock of what we're doing, how much are we spending, and how effective is it, and how can it be improved by the creation of something like an arm's length arts council. So that work is happening over the coming years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 80)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And it would be a lot of work, for one thing. There would have to be consultation with the education authority and obviously the district education council. The district education authority would have to make it very clear that this is what they wanted, and I haven't received that  you know, there's been no resolution passed by the authority that I'm aware of. But the Hay River DEA comprises of about 42 percent of the student population of the south slave. So  but probably close to $10 million that goes to the SSDEC would then be removed and allocated to a new DEA, a...