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 7)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So if the Member wants to provide the Minister of Finance with some specifics about the instances he's talking about, I'm sure the Minister of Finance will be happy to look into those. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 7)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And once again, I think this is great timing for these questions because as we embark on implementation of the homelessness strategy, those are the types of actions that we will be undertaking how can we ensure that NGOs have stable funding? You know, I don't think that the Member needs to convince me of anything. I agreed with much of what she said in her statement. NGOs can provide they do provide core services often at a much lower price than the GNWT can, and so we need to strengthen that partnership as we go forward and try to live within our means as a...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 7)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the government has relationships with the NGOs and so is aware of the turnover within NGOs and even just personally, you know, I'm aware of my constituency of the issues NGOs have in retaining staff. And so, yes, we are aware of those staffing turnovers.

To the Member's question about organizations and whether or not those same organizations are delivering services, I'm not sure what awareness the department has but I think they must they probably have a pretty good sense as well. They're the ones who are signing the contribution agreements. And I know from my own...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 7)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Caroline Wawzonek will be absent from the House for the remainder of the week to attend the meetings for federal, provincial, territorial Ministers responsible for transportation and safety in Montreal. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 6)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And like I said, we're always having those conversations. The RCMP, they are a federal entity, but they are contracted by the GNWT, and so an increase in service in one area is it goes through the GNWT, so. And I think that if we work for the RCMP and we wanted additional officers in there, that's what was deemed necessary, then we could do that without the federal government. But I'm always having conversations with Indigenous leaders and communities about justice, access to justice, drugs, and the RCMP, and I'm happy to continue those.

I'm sorry, I don't have a better...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 6)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So those documents, those are under the Department of Finance, so I'd like to redirect that to the Minister of Finance. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 6)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the rental office enforces the Residential Tenancies Act, and that is applicable when there is an agreement between a tenant and the landlord. So while there are other government entities that may monitor environmental health, such as the environment health unit in the department of health of the fire marshal with MACA, those entities are not part of that contract between a landlord and a tenant. So there is an onus on the tenants who actually do that work and bring forward those concerns to the rental officer. The government isn't going to go and inspect people's...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 6)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So in terms of the government's role in the repair and maintenance of privatelyowned residential units, we have the Residential Tenancies Act and, of course, this is administered by the NWT rental officer. The act requires landlords to maintain premises in a state of repair a good state of repair and fit for habitation, and they must comply with all the applicable health and safety legislation that we have in the territory. The rental officer, if a constituent or sorry, if a resident is having an issue with their unit and they believe it is not being maintained to...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 6)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As that's not in my department, I'm going to have to take that on notice. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 6)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so as was mentioned earlier, the polytechnic or the Aurora College is now arm's length, and it is governed by a board. That being said, if there is a case for a program and there's money attached to it, then the college can always look at delivering that if we have a funder. I will note that the RCMP, they do try to recruit Northerners. They have a program, a threeweek program in Regina, at depot, where Indigenous potential recruits can go for three weeks to see what they think of the program. Right now, there is I believe there is a few residents in the territory...