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. I'd like to direct that to Mr. Bancroft.

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

Thank you. So the vast majority of the corrections budget is associated with the correctional facilities. So that would be spent in those communities where those facilities exist. However, we do have probation officers in the Tlicho region. We're just looking for that information right now, to see how many there might be. Thank you.

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

Thank you. I would love to see this in every single community in the Northwest Territories. I think that would be great if we had people that could, you know, assist clients in need everywhere. So thank you.

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

Thank you. So those are there's definitely connections there. I know that the provider in Hay River who receives who had received funding under this has worked with those individuals who are in that world. But the initiatives like the Member is talking about would be undertaken by the RCMP as opposed to community justice necessarily. Thank you.

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

Not to my knowledge. Thank you.

Question 1389-19(2): School Infrastructure Replacement in Fort Smith
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 141)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So earlier in her statement the Member mentioned that back in I believe it was 2002 it was thought that there would need to be a replacement sometime around 2015 or 2020, something like that. And clearly we haven't needed that yet. So it's hard for me to put numbers out there, dates out there, when obviously things can change. Right now, based on the information we have, we're looking at 2035. But that could come a lot sooner; it could take longer. You know, Fort Smith has Aurora College with a trades school, and I think that expertise in trades really has helped those...

Question 1389-19(2): School Infrastructure Replacement in Fort Smith
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 141)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The last technical status evaluation was 2005. These evaluations are typically done when work is planned to be done on a building. However, there was a building condition assessment completed on JBT by the Department of Infrastructure in August of 2022. These assessments are not as in depth as the technical status evaluation, but they do provide an overall assessment of the building. Thank you.

Tabled Document 847-19(2): Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 1341-19(2): Civil Forfeiture
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 141)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Followup Letter for Oral Question 134119(2): Civil Forfeiture. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 1394-19(2): Education, Culture and Employment Infrastructure Fund
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 141)

Sorry, Mr. Speaker. I might have missed the question, but we have $1 million in the fund, and based on the programs that apply that's how we make a determination. So sometimes there may only be a few programs that actually qualify based on the proposal. And so those programs, as we've seen in the past, can get some significant amounts of funding. And I apologize if I missed the Member's statement. I will say that we have also overspent. I believe we spent $1.28 million last year on this because there was a number of good proposals, and there was a demonstrated need that we wanted to support...

Question 1394-19(2): Education, Culture and Employment Infrastructure Fund
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 141)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No one would like to see this fund increased more than myself. I could take a win right now but I don't have a million dollars in my back pocket. The budget is, you know, it's before committee right now. And so the Member is aware what the budget for this upcoming year is, and it will be $1 million. In the future, I'm sure the budget will increase but it is not in the immediate future. Thank you.