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 35)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So at minimum, they have first aid training. I'm not familiar with other types of medical training they might receive. But they're not paramedics, and I know they're often called on when anything happens. It doesn't matter what, the police are often your first call. So I want to make sure that they are not paramedics. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 35)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have those numbers on hand so, unfortunately, I'm not able to provide that to the Member at this exact moment. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 35)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I recognize the impact that this will have on the community. I did travel to Fort Smith. I met with the leadership council, and I toured some of the facilities they have in the community. Some of those are GNWT facilities that they would like to operate out of. And the reason that, you know, we took those tours is I wanted to get the lay of the land of Fort Smith, see what resources that we had that could be provided to the community to assist in any sort of endeavour that they might want to embark on. The Department of Infrastructure has shared information with the...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 34)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to present to the House Bill 11, An Act to Amend the Motor Vehicles Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 34)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Instead of just receiving a notice in the mail, staff went there to personally speak with employees, to let them know what the options are going forward, because there is no more funding for that facility at the end of this fiscal year. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 34)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I need a little more specificity in that request. That's a lot of reporting. We will have reporting through the UNDRIP Implementation Act plan. You know, we have a Member from Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight attending the Council of Leaders meetings. We do share negotiation updates with the Members. But if there's something that we can do, if the Member has something specific in mind, I'm happy to work with him and see what else we can make public. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 34)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I've been furiously trying to find the Bourque report online. It's not that easy to find so I don't have it at my fingertips right now. But from what I've heard in the territory, the path forward is settling land claims. That's what I'm hearing from the Indigenous governments. I am interested in looking at the report. Whenever I hear about constitutional reform, I think that that would take all of our efforts and all of our focus would be on that and we wouldn't be achieving other things that might be more close -- closer in reach for us. So I'll leave it at that...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 34)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So without knowing exactly what the unit is going to encounter in their investigations because they're investigating -- they're looking into all of the data that's been collected over the years, all of the reports that have been published, they're hearing from frontline staff, from others within the department and the authorities. I can't say that we'll make everything public but I can definitely commit to providing regular updates to the Members and to the public through this House and other forums over the course of this initiative so that people can see what's...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 34)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So that's the work that this unit is going to do. I'll say the majority of what the health authorities do, the programs and services they deliver, they're necessary. They're not optional. You know, we're not going to send people who need dialysis all down south to the provinces to get their treatment. The types of services that residents need in the territory and that we can reasonably expect to deliver in the territory, we want to continue doing that. But the fact is that there's programming across the department -- or across the authorities that it could be...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 34)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the Member's correct, the review is out. We are reviewing the review, so that's the work that's happening now.

The Council of Leaders, this is not a topic that has been raised at the Council of Leaders. The agenda there are decided upon by consensus or as close as we can get to consensus, and this has not come up yet. But the new commanding officer is scheduled to meet with the NWT Council of Leaders at the next meeting, so I look forward to seeing what comes of that. Thank you.