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

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

Thank you. The GNWT is not able to reach too far into the operations, nor do I know if we want to. We contract that out for a reason. They know what to do, but I can ask the deputy minister for some more nuanced detail on that. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

Thank you. For some detail on the program and maybe some of the changes and the renewed focus on it, I can ask the deputy minister to elaborate.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Perhaps I can ask the deputy minister to respond.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

Thank you, Madam Chair. That is a variance due to the drug-impaired driving funding initiative sunsetting the forced-growth submission for three RCMP constables. It's a combination of those two things. Essentially, it's three new RCMP officers. I think it's the first increase in RCMP officers since 2005 in Yellowknife. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

Thank you. No, but the Government of the Northwest Territories does provide options for housing through either Income Assistance, which pays market rent, or the Housing Corporation. Justice doesn't do everything, but the government as a whole does a lot of things. Where one department doesn't do it, there are other departments to help out. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

Thank you. The Member is correct.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

Thank you. I can ask Ms. Bolstad for a breakdown because I believe it is 70-30. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

Thank you. I'll ask Ms. Bolstad if she has that information on hand. If not, I guess we can. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

Thank you. I don't think it's a secret to anyone that there's a rental crunch in places like Yellowknife and places like Hay River, and there's limited housing. Everyone is alive to the effects of the pandemic. The rental offices are definitely keenly aware of what's going on, and we watch the trends. If there is a need for additional support, it's something that I'm in favour of supporting because I've seen what happens when you really do have those backlogs and how it can negatively affect people. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Member brings up a good point. This, the A New Day program, has been in Justice for, I believe, it's about seven years now, and we have had a couple of reviews of the two different iterations of the program, and neither of them showed that we are doing exceptionally well. I think that part of that is due to the fact that it's not really a program that Justice traditionally delivers. It is more of a community wellness program, and that is not necessarily Justice's forte. They do many things very well, but these types of programs, they require some sort of clinical...