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 165)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the employment assistance program provides funding to people to help meet their basic needs. So it is not a program to you know, to make people rich or anything like that. So I understand that for the amount of money that you get, it can seem like a lot of work to provide all of these documents. That is why at the beginning of this Assembly, I set out to change the program and overhaul the program. And we have done the work, and we are months away from launching the new income assistance program for seniors and persons with disabilities. Once that happens, the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And as the Member mentioned earlier, the RCMP are in contact with the family. They would be the ones to provide that information to the family. I'm not sure how else to say it, Mr. Speaker. If there is no contact, if, you know, the RCMP aren't in contact with the family, they can't reach the RCMP, then I can provide some assistance. But as it is, it sounds like those lines of communication are open. And as I mentioned earlier, I do have regular discussions with the commanding officer, and this is one of the topics that does come up. So it's not like it's not not by a...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate what the Member has said about using Frank's name. You know, when I met with his family, it's obvious that, you know, it's a very loving family that very much care for him. And this is, you know, this is tough to say the least. And I can't imagine what the family's going through. With that said, Mr. Speaker, as the Member knows I am not privy to RCMP investigations. But missing persons cases are they remain open, so it is still an open investigation. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This program is being offered independently of the college, or it will be. And like the Member's said, the ENRTP is a worldrenowned program. Not just one of the jewels of Aurora College, I'd said it's one of the jewels of the Northwest Territories so I can't imagine that the program has anything to worry about. The program that is out for public input right now and I encourage everyone, including the Member, to provide that input is focused on, you know, really the Yellowknives Dene and it was developed in concert with them. It focuses on Dene ways of knowing, doing...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so just to be clear, the program is not being offered at the college. It has nothing to do with Aurora College. This is a program that is a partnership between Trent University and the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. So I would assume that it was the Yellowknives Dene who really initiated this. I know they're working very closely together. And I expect, or I understand that at least the first intake would likely all be Yellowknives Dene members. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm here today to present Bill 81, An Act to Amend the Education Act, No. 2.

Bill 81 represents the first phase of amendments that make operational and technical improvements necessary to improve the education system. A second phase will continue beyond the 19th Assembly to allow for more indepth discussions with Indigenous governments, education bodies and the public on the future of education governance in the Northwest Territories.

This bill seeks to amend the Education Act to recognize the vital role Indigenous peoples and Indigenous governments have in education...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand that it was back in the sometime in the 90s, I'm not sure exactly when, when the archives, they started storing archives off site. And as I mentioned, there are some minor upgrades planned for next year. Hopefully, the Member will support funding for those upgrades. And those would include, at the offsite space, minor space improvements, fencing, so secure access to the documents. New racking so there you know, more stable storage. As well as some temperature and humidity control improvements where possible. So given the situation and the needs, ECE is...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, of course, we are currently deliberating the capital budget in Committee of the Whole, so I don't want to go too much into that because that document is properly before committee of the House. But I can say that ECE has taken undertaken work to explore the renovation or replacement of the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre and, in particular, as the Member mentions, the need for archival space. So there has been a comprehensive planning study, the development of estimates to explore various options ranging from replacing the entire museum to pursuing more...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you. I'd like to welcome back Laura Jeffrey, legislative counsel with Justice. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm here today to present Bill 94: Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023.

The purpose of Bill 94 is to amend various statutes of the Northwest Territories for which minor changes are proposed or errors or inconsistencies have been identified. Each amendment included in the bill had to meet the following criteria:

it must not be controversial;

It must not involve the spending of public funds;

It must not prejudicially affect rights; and,

It must not create a new offence or subject a new class of persons to an existing offence.

Departments responsible for the...