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 99)

Thank you. So I believe there is some sort of a GNWT policy on languages. I'm not I can't say I'm overly familiar with it. The issue that comes up through ECE is often Indigenous language instructors. There are Indigenous language instructors in the schools who might not have education degrees and so they are not paid at the same rate as teachers who have education degrees. And this is something that, you know, the department has brought forward on numerous times to the you know, to and has brought forward to Finance who has then brought forward to the negotiations with the union. So we are...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)

Thank you, that is correct.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)

Thank you. So it could be the next budget. The program evaluation is happening, and you know, I'm of two minds of these strategies. Do I just do the work without telling anyone what we're doing, or do we release something that is very high level so that people know what we're doing but then I get criticized for not having dollars attached to it? And so I've opted to put something out there so that people know what we're doing and know where we're going. And so right now, the programs are being evaluated. There is a budgeting process that happens throughout year and so if there's an opportunity...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)

Thank you. From what I can recall, the Hay River Museum Society gets $60,000. I believe the centre in Thebacha gets $198,000. But I can ask the deputy minister for the actual numbers. I believe he's looking at them. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)

Yes, it would help it. It's unlikely that it would fund the entire thing but a number of the projects or I know at least one of the projects was a brand new build, and that was the one in Fort Smith. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)

Thank you. And yes, we don't have all of the programs broken out in here. But it does have funding associated with it. Perhaps I can ask Mr. MacDonald for the details on exactly how that funding is distributed and how the program works. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So the NWT Arts Council is showing $700,000 year over year, and the actuals in 2021 were $710,000. Is that what the Member is referring to?

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 99)

Thank you. I'll do what I should have done in the first place, and I'll ask the deputy minister to answer. Thanks.