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 62)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Not that I am aware of. I know that there are a number of apps that can help students learn or act as dictionaries, but as for an online translator, I am not aware of any. Specifically, Google does not have Indigenous languages in Google Translate. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 62)

I am happy to have the conversation, like I said. I know that there are people who are very passionate about Michif language in the territory, and they are working to revitalize it. While there may be two- or three-hundred speakers now, that does not mean that, in the future, that number is not going to grow. I would love to see it grow, and I would love to see more than just a few vibrant Indigenous languages. I am happy to have that conversation and move forward.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 62)

I would just be repeating everything I said. Maybe I jumped the gun and answered the question too early, but the Member can refer to my last answer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 62)

Already done.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 62)

Yes, I can bring this up with the local school boards. I meet with the chairs of the DEAs and DECs on a regular basis, and we are soon to start engaging formally on the modernization of the Education Act. I will be engaging with them, and really, if anyone, any resident of the Northwest Territories thinks that this is a change that is worthwhile, then they can provide that input, as well. I'm not only asking the school boards; I'll ask anyone in the territory.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 62)

As far as I know, it hasn't been affected by COVID-19. It hasn't been put on hold. It is going forward full force, and it doesn't seem to be held up whatsoever. It's a solid program, and I think that the people who are participating in it genuinely enjoy it. The language speakers genuinely enjoy transferring their language. People enjoy learning it. I am hopeful that, for years to come, this is going to be a key part of our revitalization initiatives. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 62)

As for the GNWT, I don't believe that we have approached them. Perhaps other Indigenous governments have. I think that's an interesting idea. Just imagine if we could get nine Indigenous languages onto Google translate. That would be something. I look forward to following up with the Member on this one.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 62)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So far, there hasn't been a movement toward making Michif an official language. I think I actually had these same questions in the last Assembly. From my understanding, there is a relatively small number of speakers in the Northwest Territories, and I think there are some speakers who might be speaking Michif who identify as speaking a different language. Perhaps there needs to be more research around this. I know that the Standing Committee on Government Operations is undertaking a review of the Official Languages Act, and so this is something that can be pursued in...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 61)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are service standards that have been developed for the Employment Standards Office, and those relate to how long between making a complaint or an inquiry and receiving a call back. The length of time between a complaint being made and a decision is not something that has traditionally been tracked. There is a wide variety of factors that determine how long a complaint would take to finalize or come to a decision. There are complaints that take one phone call to be decided upon, and then there are complaints that take months. It's feasible there could be complaints...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 61)

There is a number of things the GNWT as a whole does. Supplementing wages is one thing so that employees can be paid a higher wage, things like our wage top-up program. We also have a wage subsidy program through ECE that supports employers who hire people who might need training. We help those kinds of people who need the training who maybe don't have the opportunities to get the big jobs yet. We are developing a polytechnic university in order to help train people to get the jobs they want. The plan is to make it as easy and accessible for people to get educated and get trained as we can. We...