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 , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 39)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The camp did not reach its maximum capacity continuously. I don't believe it reached its maximum capacity ever, actually. But it did not prevent people who needed a home from having a home because there was still -- I know the Member asked about a home but there was shelter space available in Yellowknife, and so there was always shelter space available even for those who could not go to the on-the-land camp. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 38)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And probably a question more suited for the industry Minister because I know that work has been going on in this area, especially up in the Beaufort Delta region, and there's a lot of hope about what that could bring. The resource that we have right now is that a lot of the world's attention is on is critical minerals. And so I'm having lots of conversations at the first Ministers' meetings that I just mentioned as well as virtually everywhere I go, because we recognize we need secure supply chains in Canada. If there are tariffs from the United States, that disrupts...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 38)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm sure everyone has heard that the Prime Minister spoke with President Trump yesterday -- or sorry, I believe it was Monday. They had a discussion, and President Trump said that he was going to delay the implementation of the tariffs by 30 days. And so that's where we are right now.

Across Canada, governments -- provincial and territorial governments were going to enact measures, just as ours was; for example, removing American products from the liquor stores, stopping procurement of American goods, and any other tariff measures that we can define to help support...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 38)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And Cabinet does have a position on this one because this is a recommendation for government and so when there's a recommendation for government, we do abstain. We want to ensure that we can actually look into these issues before we put a vote to it. So we'll be abstaining. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 38)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise the House that the honourable Member for Kam Lake, Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, will be absent from the House today and tomorrow to attend the Arctic 360 conference in Toronto, Ontario. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 38)

You can be forgiven, Mr. Speaker. We've only worked together five years, come on.

Or Mr. Chair, I apologize. I'm just joking, of course. That's what happens. I get a little cheeky, and I get my comeuppance.

I just have a question, actually, and I know that it's not question period, we can't refer to questions here. But "as acquired" are the last two words here, and I was wondering what that means, "supply information as required." Is it referring to the Minister -- that witnesses may be there as required or that information may be supplied as required? I'd just like some clarity on this. Thanks.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 38)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Friday, February 7th, 2025, I will be present Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Partnership and Business Names Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 38)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, of course, revenue royalties are under the Minister of ITI so I can't speak to that. My primary concern is getting some investment into the territory and getting some development and getting people working and, of course, doing it in a sustainable way. That's one thing that we always have to balance in the Northwest Territories. The people of the Northwest Territories, they still live on the land. They still hunt, they still fish, they still trap, and many communities supplement their incomes and their food through those methods. So while we have that consideration...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 38)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the Member wants to put a framework around this amorphous idea of pushing for billion-dollar opportunities, I'd be happy to have a look at that and consider how we can use that, but I'm not going to spearhead the Member's initiative. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 38)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said earlier, the eyes of the world are on the North now and the discussions about Arctic security, defence, have taken up an inordinate amount of my time. I can say I did not expect this when I became Premier of the Northwest Territories I'd be having these national discussions and international discussions, but the fact is we are. And so what I can do from my end as a politician is talk to the politicians who are making decisions about what we need for infrastructure. And so we have provided detailed information to the federal government about the types of...