R.J. Simpson

Member Hay River North

Premier
Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs
Minister of Justice
Government House Leader

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

Hay River North
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Email
Email
Phone
867-767-9141
Extension
11120
Constituency Office

62, promenade Woodland, bureau 104
Hay River Nord NT X0E 1G1
Canada

Phone
867-874-6301
Minister
Email
Email
Premier of the Northwest Territories, Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, Minister of Justice, Government House Leader

Statements in Debates

Bill 94: Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 159)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present to the House Bill 94, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 1560-19(2): Health Conditions of Rental Properties
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 159)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have been informed by the department of health that environmental health officers do follow up on landlordtenant complaints, and they do track these requests. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 159)

Thank you. Not at this time. Thank you.

Question 1560-19(2): Health Conditions of Rental Properties
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 159)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If there were 700 applications made to the rental officer and only three resulted in orders then yes, there would be a problem. However, I'm not sure all 700 of those individuals submitted applications to the rental office so it's hard for me to say. If there were three applications submitted and they all received orders, well then it seems to be working well. So with just that information, I can't really answer the Member's questions.

However, if there are these issues in your, you know, rental unit, please contact the rental officer. This is what they do. If you have...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 159)

Thank you. At this point there is no such plans that I'm aware of. Thank you.

Question 1558-19(2): Aging School Infrastructure in Fort Smith
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 159)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That wouldn't change the technical status or the report the technical status evaluation report of the school. But, I mean, it's a political question and so the Member's also a politician, she probably can answer that as well as I can. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 159)

Thank you. So those intermediates, those agents would the example I used earlier, the GNWT flows money to an Indigenous government, the Indigenous government then uses that money to send their members to treatment. So it's not the GNWT directly sending somebody to treatment, it is another body, and that is what that is intended to cover. Thank you.

Question 1558-19(2): Aging School Infrastructure in Fort Smith
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 159)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. According to the information I've received from the Department of Infrastructure, technical status evaluations are conducted when there are some certainty that major work is expected in the next three to five years. So if it looks like there's going to be some serious work that's required in three to five years, that is the point at which a technical status evaluation would be conducted. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 159)

Thank you. So the question is whether the GNWT can and should start tracking these costs? Perhaps for a discussion of part of the reason for things like this class action are that we don't have to prove damages for every individual, don't have to prove that an individual became addicted to opioids due to, you know, the actions of a company and then prove the number. So what we are doing is looking at damages on an aggregate basis. Perhaps I can hand it to Ms. Zimmer to maybe explain things a bit more concisely. Thank you.

Question 1555-19(2): RCMP’s Responsibility in Missing People Cases
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 159)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I can't bring the commanding officer anywhere; I don't have that authority over the commanding officer. The RCMP are independent from the Government of the Northwest Territories. They are contracted. However, the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight can reach out and contact the officer. And, frankly, given the interest from the Regular Members I would expect that they would be doing that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.