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
Extension
11120
Constituency Office

62, promenade Woodland, bureau 104
Hay River Nord NT X0E 1G1
Canada

Phone
Minister
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 126)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not going to single out any individual staff member. That's inappropriate, it's against the rules of this House, so I'm going to leave it at that. That's the term Aurora College uses. That's the term the institution uses. The idea of a university headquarters is something that is it's not really used in postsecondary institutions. Colleges and universities don't distinguish one campus from another by calling one a headquarters and one, you know, a subservient. Each campus has difference roles. Sometimes they have different colleges as part of the same university...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 125)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill 48 be amended by deleting clause 77 and the heading immediately preceding clause 77. Thank you

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 125)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill 48 be amended by adding the following after Clause 74: "Education Act, 74.1: Section 57 of the Education Act is amended by striking out “Arbitration Act” and substituting “Arbitration Act 1988 RSNWT 1988, c A5.” Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 125)

Thank you, Madam Chair. This motion is part of a package of motions that will deal with the application of arbitration legislation to the Public Service Act and Education Act.

Upon review of the bill, the Union of Northern Workers advised the department that they were concerned with the application of the proposed new Act, notably, that Bill 48 is primarily geared towards commercial and other arbitrations, not labour arbitrations. The Department of Justice has developed these motions to address these concerns. The department is proposing to exclude the application of the new Arbitration Act to...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 125)

Thank you. with us today, we have Brad Patzer, assistant deputy minister Attorney General with the Department of Justice, and to his right Ian Rennie, acting director of legislation division with the Department of Justice. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 125)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here today to present Bill 48, Arbitration Act. The current Arbitration Act was enacted decades ago and has had few amendments since that time. The Arbitration Act establishes the default terms of an arbitration agreement made between two parties. Many powers that an arbitrator possesses in other jurisdictions are not currently available in the Northwest Territories meaning arbitration is currently a less attractive dispute resolution mechanism in this jurisdiction.

This bill is based substantially on the Uniform Arbitration Act, which was adopted in 2016 by the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 125)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, we can sit here and say that, you know, we can't predict this and we can't predict that. But if we do nothing, then I know we won't be able to predict anything. But we have to make some educated decisions. We have to use, you know, Indigenous knowledge and, you know, if we're going to move ahead in trying to, you know, lessen the impact of the damages caused by flooding.

So, Mr. Speaker, has the Minister initiated any discussions with the Alberta government, or any Hay River Basin management organizations south of the border, to talk about what can...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 125)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill 48 be amended by deleting clause 76 and substituting the following:

76:

The Public Service Act is amended by this section;

The following provisions are amended by striking out Arbitration Act and substituting Arbitration Act RSNWT 1988, c A5

A. Subsection 40.5(2)

B. Subsection 41.02(9);

The following provisions are amended by striking out "Arbitration Act" and substituting "Arbitration Act RSNWT 1988, c A5

A. Subsection 41.02(8)

B. Section 43.

Thank you

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 125)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill 48 be amended by adding the following immediately before the heading "Community Planning and Development Act, Arbitration Act, RSNWT 1988, c A5"

73.1:

The Arbitration Act RSNWT 1988, c A5 is amended by this section;

The title is repealed and the following is substituted: Arbitration Act 1988;.

Sections 2 and 3 are repealed and the following is substituted:

2. This Act applies to an arbitration under the Public Service Act or the Education Act;

3. For the purposes of arbitral proceedings to which this Act applies, a reference in an arbitration agreement to...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 125)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that subclause 3(5) of Bill 48 be amended:

By deleting the "or" at the end of the English version of paragraph A;

By deleting the period at the end of paragraph B and substituting "or"; and,.

By adding the following after paragraph B, "C. An arbitration under the Public Service Act or the Education Act."

Thank you.