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 18)

Thank you. There are two community safety officers. Thanks.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you. With me, I have John MacDonald, the deputy minister of Executive and Indigenous Affairs; and, Tram Do, director, shared corporate services, with the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Sure, thank you. So I'm not sure where this is contained in this document but relative to where we are now, but integrated service delivery is a way of doing business where you design and deliver programs and services for the person. You don't design them in a way that is most efficient or, rather, most convenient for government. You design it with the convenience of the person in mind so that they can actually access all of the services they need easily. And so we are looking at various ways of doing that. Initially, there was a thought that we would just start integrating services across...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you. And it's a political decision, I suppose, where it lands, under which department. I would say because it is most dissimilar to EIA, it's more appropriate to be in EIA as opposed to something like infrastructure where that Minister is often also the Minister of the power corporation. And so it is to give some separation. I will say that I've often struggled with where the different regulators are located. I think it was an ad hoc approach over the years, and where they sit now is where they sit. When we get to Justice, we'll see that OROGO is in there as well, which really no rhyme...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you. That funding is for the extension of the program. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm here to present the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs' main estimates for the fiscal year 20242025. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of $1.405 million, or 6.1 percent, over the Main Estimates 20232024. These estimates support the mandate objectives, while continuing to meet the Government of the Northwest Territories' fiscal objectives to prioritize responsible and strategic spending.

Highlights of the proposed estimates include:

Transfer of Integrated Service Delivery Program of $854,000 from Department of Justice;.

Continuation of...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you. When we talk about economic reconciliation, we need to approach that from a number of fronts. We are working on an Indigenous procurement policy. We do have agreements such as with the economic agreement with the Tlicho the exact name escapes me at this moment. We are also working on the UNDRIP Implementation Act action plan. And I expect that there would be economic aspects identified in there. We are working with the Council of Leaders and the economy has been flagged as one of the major issues that the Indigenous governments want to address this term. And so I'm excited about...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

The proposal the process is not yet closed, no. It's midstream. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As with any initiative, I expect that the relevant department will undertake a thorough review and reach out to experts as needed. I just want to reassure everyone that the Northwest Territories has no shortage of lawyers. I think we have four times the number of lawyers per capita compared to the rest of Canada. There's plenty of legal advice out there for the taking. Thank you.