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 143)

Thank you. So, yes, that is not something I can comment on. That is not something in the purview of the rental office. If someone owes money to Housing NWT and they go through the courts to get their wages garnished, that does not involve the rental office so I can't answer these questions. It would be better posed to the Minister of housing. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

Thank you. So the guards are trained in both the youth facility and the adult facility. And so if there are no youth, then the guards would be in the adult facilities. So we wouldn't be incurring those costs when there are no youth. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

Thank you. No.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

Thank you. Not specifically.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

Thank you. I'll hand it to Mr. Bancroft.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

Thank you. I believe the last report I reviewed stated about 60 percent of the workload was related to the housing corporation. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

Thank you. The corrections service has representation on the NWT transitional housing advisory committee. The committee is also represented by staff from the NTHSSA and ECE. The committee supports transitional housing for additional recovery program, which is a transitional housing program designed to provide aftercare services and supports to individuals returning from addictions treatment. However, I will say that whether you are being released from jail or you are just a resident who is not in jail, there's housing challenges in the territory for you. And so the department does not provide...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

Thank you. That would be the five additional members. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

Thank you. So that's a decision for the, I believe, 20262027 budget year, because that's when the agreement will expire. It expires in 2026. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 143)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So for people who are in the system, their case worker can help them with those types of things. It's applicationbased. It's under the federal government so it's not the Department of Justice who would be doing that. And I can also say that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, through the income assistance program, will help people who don't have the funds to go through that process to get their record expunged. Thank you.