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 23)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can't say that I disagree with much of what has been said today, and I've heard much of this from my MLA colleague from Hay River, the MLA for Hay River South, as well as the previous MLA for Hay River South, as well as myself as MLA for Hay River North. So I definitely recognize the scope of this issue. The government will be taking our time to formulate a response to this, so we will be abstaining from this vote, but we'll come back with a response in 120 days. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 23)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the Member had a couple of questions in there. The earlier one, were there individuals in the system in the Northwest Territories who suffered hardship? Of course there were. I know them personally; I'm sure every Member of this House probably has stories about someone they know who was in the system. That being said, this is a settled agreement that I have no ability to influence. We would likely need changes to -- or potentially need changes to federal legislation, we would need the human rights tribunal to be on board, the Government of Canada I'm assuming. So...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 23)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So this settlement stemmed from a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal by the Assembly of First Nations and an additional society, I can't recall the name right now. This process, that was in 2007, and it was finally in 2023 that the agreement was settled after the human rights tribunal ordered Canada to pay a certain amount, which they appealed. It was then confirmed.

From my understanding, because we are not a party to this lawsuit, it wasn't our -- we had no option to opt into this. But the program, the First Nations Child and Family Services Program...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 22)

With me today, I have Brad Patzer, assistant deputy minister with the Department of Justice. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 22)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here to present Bill 2, Missing Persons Act.

Bill 2 proposes new legislation that will provide additional tools to assist police in investigating reports of missing persons.

The Government of the Northwest Territories committed to developing this legislation in response to Call for Justice 5.8 from the National Inquiry of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

In missing persons cases where there is no evidence of criminal activity, investigations can be slowed or completely halted. Missing persons laws in other jurisdictions across Canada allow police...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 22)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There haven't been formal conversations between myself and Indigenous leaders, but food security is obviously an issue across the North. At the Council of Leaders, there is very much an interest in the economy which, as was stated before, a good income goes a long way to ensuring food security, and so that's part of the interest in that area. But I look forward to having further conversations with Indigenous leaders on this. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 22)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the Nutrition North is, of course, a federal program and they are currently undergoing an internal review, and so I am not aware of any changes that they may be making as a result of that review, but I look forward to the results. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 22)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again, I'll have to get back to the Member on that. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 22)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT has a number of food security programs that support Indigenous governments to help their members go out on the land. Through the antipoverty fund, funds are distributed that go to food security programs often, often by Indigenous governments. The GNWT provides funding to schools, education bodies, to provide meals in the schools. I can provide the Member with a full list of all of our food security initiatives as well as the associated funding amounts, but I don't have that on hand right now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 22)

Mr. Speaker, today marks the 80th Anniversary of DDay. The landing at Normandy was a turning point of the Second World War. As Premier, and as a Canadian, I honour the sacrifice of all those who served in this war, the ultimate sacrifice of all those who lost their lives in the conflict, and the memory of the veterans who have passed on in the years since. While I was not able to join the Canadian delegation for the commemoration ceremony taking place at Juno Beach today, I am grateful for the efforts of all participating nations to ensure the lessons learned through the last Great War, and...