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

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 144)

Thank you. And of course we get most of our money from the federal government. In particular, we do get money specifically for the student financial assistance program. We receive $5.6 million from the federal government. They have the Canada Student Loans Program that we opted out of in order to be able to offer these types of customized programs to our residents. And because we opted out, we get that money from the federal government and we contribute GNWT funds as well. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 144)

It is fully subscribed.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 144)

Thank you. So, again, with the changes to the income assistance program, we want to make the reporting less onerous so that it frees up time for the clients and for the client service officers so that eventually we hope they will have more time to work with the clients. I know that the Tlicho region is a very busy region when it comes to the workload for the CSOs and because of that, they don't have time to spend with the clients. So we're looking at increasing the number of positions there as well at some point in the very near future. So the Member can look forward to that. And the whole...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 144)

Thank you. On my left is the deputy minister John MacDonald. And on my right is the assistant deputy minister of corporate services, Sam Shannon. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 144)

Thank you. And we have been underspending the SFA budget for years, and it's sort of common across Canada. We've seen lower numbers of students so that allowed us to make some enhancements beyond the $1.4 million here. And, you know, if it comes to the point where there's so much uptake that we're overspending this, then we're overspending it and we'll have to increase the budget. It's a great problem to have. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 144)

Thank you. I'll hand it to the deputy minister.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 144)

Thank you. I don't have that information. We do try to track that. I can provide the information that we do have to committee. But I don't have it on hand here. But the Member makes a good point. That's important. Data collection is always difficult in all the areas that we do our work, which makes it difficult to design and evaluate programs. But we are getting better, and I believe we do have some information that the Member will find useful and we will share it with her. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 144)

Yes, I do. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I am here to present the Department of Education, Culture and Employment’s main estimates for the fiscal year 20232024. Overall, the department's estimates propose an increase of approximately $24 million or 6.7 percent over the Main Estimates 20222023. These estimates support the mandate objectives while continuing to meet the GNWT's fiscal objectives to prioritize responsible and strategic spending.

Highlights of these proposed estimates include $16.9 million to support new initiatives. The amount is comprised of:

$10.326 million in additional federal...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 144)

Thank you. And the cost of fuel goes down and it goes up so it could go it could actually come down; we don't know that. It could continue to go up. I'm always the optimist I guess. And we wouldn't be coming back for a supplementary estimate. It would likely be funded from within as we did last time around. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 144)

Thank you. And I know it's a different situation here in Yellowknife where the school boards predate the Government of the Northwest Territories and so they own their schools. It would be simpler if the government just oh no, sorry, not that school. You know what, maybe I'll just hand this over to Yellowknife's own Sam Shannon. Thank you.