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 101)

Thank you. I'd like to ask Mr. Bancroft to answer. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)

Thank you. I don't know if I can confirm or deny what is in confidential FMB materials. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)

Thank you. And so these are the Member's correct, these are communitydriven decisions and it's, you know, communitydriven application process. So really, she's touching on, you know, something that is very difficult for us to get at through a program like this. That's why, you know, even with the women in trades subsidy for the the Trades and Occupational Wage Subsidy, increasing it for employers who employ women in trades, that was an area where we had money and we thought we can put it towards this. But even that doesn't get at the really the root cause. So I don't really have a good...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)

Thank you. Yes, that's my goal. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)

Thank you. I believe that's going to the Housing Corp but Mr. Bancroft can provide some detail. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)

Thank you. So just for clarity, what's the question; a breakdown between what?

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)

Thank you. And, you know, with recent events in the world's biggest natural gas producer, perhaps there will be an increase in oil and gas activity in the territory. If that's the case, then we'll have to see what the operating budget would need to be under those circumstances. But the OROGO is funded from the general coffers of the GNWT so it goes into the general coffers of the GNWT. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)

Thank you. So I'm not aware of any plans to increase it at this point. But it is a very I think it's a successful program. I like programs like this where they're communitydriven and, you know, local communities or businesses have an idea on how to employ people and we give them money and they employ people, and that money flows directly into their pockets. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 101)

Thank you. And just to correct the record, I never said integrated services cannot be put into communities outside of Yellowknife. I said integrated services can be put into communities outside of Yellowknife, and that's exactly what we're working on.

The integrated case management program is a Yellowknifebased program designed for Yellowknife. And the idea of case management is you have a clientele or an integrated service delivery is you have a clientele, and you cater to them what are their needs? And so I can't put a program to cater to the needs of the people in Yellowknife into Hay...