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

Extension

11120

Constituency Office

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

Phone

Minister

Email

Email

Premier of the Northwest Territories, Minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, Minister of Justice, Government House Leader

Statements in Debates

Committee Motion 81-18(3): Amendment to Clause 2, Bill 18: An Act to Amend the Cities, Towns and Villages Act, Defeated

Debates of October 30, 2018 , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 46)

Thank you, Ms. Green. To the motion. Mr. Testart.

Debates of October 30, 2018 , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 46)

Thank you for that correction, Minister. Next, I have Ms. Green.

Debates of October 30, 2018 , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 46)

Thank you, committee. To the bill as a whole. Does committee agree that Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Cities, Towns and Villages Act, is now ready for a third reading?

Debates of October 30, 2018 , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 46)

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Does committee agree?

Committee Motion 81-18(3): Amendment to Clause 2, Bill 18: An Act to Amend the Cities, Towns and Villages Act, Defeated

Debates of October 30, 2018 , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 46)

Thank you. To the motion, recognizing that we have six and a half minutes here. Mr. McNeely.

Debates of October 30, 2018 , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 46)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As we all know, the primary issue in this bill is giving municipalities the authority to implement a hotel levy. From our discussions, it sounds like Yellowknife is the only one considering this. Every other municipality seems to think that administering this fee would cost more than it would ever bring in. I mean, in Hay River, I think we are lucky if we have 50 percent occupancy. It's much higher in Yellowknife. I think the territorial average is 70 percent, but I think Yellowknife's occupancy is probably being brought down by the rest of the territory. Because if...

Debates of October 30, 2018 , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 46)

Thank you, Minister. Clause 7.

Question 471-18(3): High-Speed Internet Accessibility

Debates of October 30, 2018 , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 46)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It sounds like pretty soon they are going to start getting the criteria and start developing their applications, and I encourage the Minister to come to committee for some ideas on how we would like to see that application roll out.

I would also like to ask: all across North America now, communities are installing their own fibre optic infrastructure so that they can own the infrastructure and sell access to the Internet. It is being done where it doesn't make sense for a company, economically, to invest that type of money, yet it turns out that it is often a money...

Committee Motion 81-18(3): Amendment to Clause 2, Bill 18: An Act to Amend the Cities, Towns and Villages Act, Defeated

Debates of October 30, 2018 , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 46)

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. To the motion. Mr. Testart.

Debates of October 30, 2018 , 18th Assembly, 3rd Session (day 46)

Thank you. Nothing further. Next, I have Mr. McNeely.