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 , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 168)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is a mandate of this government to increase our education outcomes to the same level as the rest of Canada. And we've taken a number of steps to advance this goal. This month, we began trialing an adapted version sorry, Mr. Speaker, last month. This was written before the evacuations. Last month, we began trialing an adapted version of British Columbia's curriculum. It will be fully implemented in all our schools over the next five years. This partnership has been years in the making, and I am happy to see it come to fruition.

British Columbia is one of...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 167)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So right now there already is a vote. There's not a motion, but there's a vote, if there is a bill that is deemed not ready to go into Committee of the Whole. Someone will call that bill if they want, and then the committee will vote whether or not they want to bring it to Committee of the Whole. So, you know, during this Assembly, we have lengthened the amount of time it takes to get through legislation through additional, you know, public processes, Intergovernmental Council processes, the protocols that we've signed. And going forward in future Assemblies, I imagine...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 167)

Yeah, no, I mentioned we don't have witnesses. I just wanted to bring this to the House's attention. I'm not asking any questions as there's no one to ask. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 167)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Operating Plans for the Northwest Territories Education Bodies for the 20232024 School Year Ending June 30th, 2024. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 167)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've met with chiefs from Yellowknife on a number of occasions to discuss the economic opportunities that could arise from the North Slave Campus. It is much too early to nail down what those might be. And it's difficult to plan to make a longterm plan when, you know, a part of that plan the land that we could potentially use is sort of unknown what the status of it will be. Perhaps, you know, a future Indigenous government doesn't want wouldn't want to partner with the college. However, I'm very open to that. I think that would be great. You know, when we do things...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 167)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There will be engagement if it's shown that the Tin Can Hill site is viable as an option for the new campus. Right now, they are undertaking a phase 2 environmental assessment. The phase 1 assessment showed there is moderate potential for contaminated soil or groundwater and so that work is happening. I believe that we were expecting it to be done this fall but because we were evacuated, the expectation is for the spring. So once that information is in, that will be provided to the board and to the college. They will look at it and make a determination if they want to...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 167)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As far as I know, we don't claw back disability payments. We don't do debt collection for the federal government. So I look forward to the Member providing some more concrete information that I can look into. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 167)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to need a bit more detail on the Member's comments. I know he had a statement. He was throwing around some acronyms, throwing around a bunch of numbers. So I can say that the CERB program, that was exempted from the calculations for income assistance. So there were people who claimed that who are on income assistance, and I understand that the federal government has been clawing some of those payments back or requiring repayment of some of those payments if the individuals weren't eligible. The CRB program, which came after the CERB program, was not exempted...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 167)

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Yellowknife South that Bill 65, Builders' Lien Act, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 167)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So we just approved a rule saying every Member shall sit on Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight. Now this speaks to Members being removed from the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, which would mean the removal of the Member would then put them in violation of the previous rule? I'm just a little confused about this. And, again, there's no one to ask these questions to I'm not quite sure what to do with this. But I guess that's a situation that will arise or we'll deal with it when it happens. Thanks.