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
Email
Rj_simpson@ntassembly.ca
Phone
867-767-9141 (link is a phone number)
Extension
11120
Constituency Office

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

Phone
867-874-6301(link is a phone number)
Minister
Email
Rj_simpson@gov.nt.ca
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 144)

Thank you. And of course we get most of our money from the federal government. In particular, we do get money specifically for the student financial assistance program. We receive $5.6 million from the federal government. They have the Canada Student Loans Program that we opted out of in order to be able to offer these types of customized programs to our residents. And because we opted out, we get that money from the federal government and we contribute GNWT funds as well. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 144)

It is fully subscribed.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 144)

Thank you. So, again, with the changes to the income assistance program, we want to make the reporting less onerous so that it frees up time for the clients and for the client service officers so that eventually we hope they will have more time to work with the clients. I know that the Tlicho region is a very busy region when it comes to the workload for the CSOs and because of that, they don't have time to spend with the clients. So we're looking at increasing the number of positions there as well at some point in the very near future. So the Member can look forward to that. And the whole...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 144)

Thank you. On my left is the deputy minister John MacDonald. And on my right is the assistant deputy minister of corporate services, Sam Shannon. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 144)

Thank you. And we have been underspending the SFA budget for years, and it's sort of common across Canada. We've seen lower numbers of students so that allowed us to make some enhancements beyond the $1.4 million here. And, you know, if it comes to the point where there's so much uptake that we're overspending this, then we're overspending it and we'll have to increase the budget. It's a great problem to have. Thank you.

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

I do.

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

Yes, we can do that. Thanks.

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

Thank you. So you know, what might happen in the future I can't say. While I'm not necessarily supportive of the idea of taking a siloed program, replicating it elsewhere and saying we're expanding, you know, integrated service delivery, so in that sense I would say no, we're not looking to duplicate this. However, there is a recognition that people do need that sort of one window access. And I've heard a lot about it, I've talked a lot about it, and so we are examining ways that we can make that happen outside of Yellowknife. Thank you.

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

Thank you. So the Department of Justice rarely has any unspent funds. We have a couple large divisions or contracts that generally eat up all of our excess funds. So if I had excess funds to put into certain things, I would do that, but that's generally not the situation here with Justice. Thank you.

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

Thank you. I'll have to I'm not sure if there's any right now actually. But I can find out and get back to the Member. Thank you.