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 60)

Mr. Speaker, thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is mentioning mischief. I'm not sure if that's reference to the Criminal Code but if it is, if there is something in the Criminal Code that would allow the RCMP to go and address this situation, I would not -- I don't have the ability to direct the RCMP to do that. The Justice Minister does not have the ability to direct the RCMP to do that. We have a contract with the RCMP that makes very clear that we do not direct to the RCMP. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 60)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so I think one thing that the House needs to be aware of is that there's no legal authority to actually -- for us to remove an encampment. We can't go down there with a bulldozer and knock it down. We have to work with the individuals who are staying there. And so that is the plan, is to work with those individuals, find a -- help them find somewhere to stay -- whether that's a shelter, whether that's a different location -- that's not as disruptive to business and the general public downtown. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 60)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, all of those things. So, you know, the population of individuals who are unhoused, you know, they come and go. They don't have fixed addresses obviously, and so just knowing where people are at any given time can be difficult. And so that's, you know, the most fundamental issue that we have. There is things like the Health Information Act which is one of our two pieces of privacy legislation here in the territory, and that puts a lot of boundaries around who information can be shared with, who can hold on to that information, and that can make it difficult when we...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 59)

Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 59)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise the House that the honourable Member for Kam Lake, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, will be absent from the House for a portion of today's proceedings today to meet with the Forum of Labour Market Ministers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 59)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the Member imputed motive, imputed motive twice in that statement, saying that the reason that I called the point of order was not to bring order to the House but to -- just to interrupt him. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 59)

Point of order. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I could try and quickly find this but from what I understand, Members are allowed to ask their question and two supplementary questions. The soliloquy, the monologue, can be at the beginning of the first question but the next two are just supplementary. And I believe the Member's had about three Member's statements in this round of questions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 59)

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to update Members on the formal intergovernmental meetings that I have taken part in this spring and those still to come. These are valuable opportunities to advance our priorities and strengthen partnerships with Indigenous governments and with federal, provincial, and territorial colleagues. They are helpful in educating other jurisdictions about the Northwest Territories and our government mandate, and to ensure that northern perspectives are reflected in discussions of national importance.

Throughout April and early May, Cabinet participated in several important...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 58)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I've gone over the recommendations in the review. In time, the GNWT will be putting forward a response. And I do recognize that healing needs to occur. There has been reach-out in the past from, you know, senior management to staff, but there needs to be ongoing support. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 58)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is speaking about an identifiable individual who is not in the chamber to defend himself. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.