R.J. Simpson

Député de Hay River Nord

Premier ministre
Ministre de l’Exécutif et des Affaires autochtones

R.J. Simpson a été élu à la 20e Assemblée, représentant la circonscription de Hay River Nord. Le 7 décembre 2023, M. Simpson a été élu premier ministre de la 20e Assemblée législative des Territoires du Nord-Ouest.

M. Simpson a été élu par acclamation à la 19e Assemblée législative et élu pour la première fois à la 18e Assemblée en 2015.

M. Simpson a été élu pour la première fois à la 18e Assemblée législative en 2015. M. Simpson a été président adjoint de la 18e Assemblée législative, vice-président du Comité permanent des opérations gouvernementales et président du Comité spécial sur les questions de transition. M. Simpson a également siégé au Comité permanent des priorités et de la planification, de même qu’au Comité permanent du développement économique et de l’environnement.

M. Simpson a habité à Hay River toute sa vie. Après avoir obtenu son diplôme d’études secondaires à l’école secondaire Diamond Jenness en 1998, il a décroché un baccalauréat ès arts à l’Université MacEwan et un diplôme en droit à la faculté de droit de l’Université de l’Alberta.

M. Simpson a précédemment travaillé pour le gouvernement du Canada, la Northern Transportation Company limitée, la section locale no 51 des Métis, et Maskwa Engineering.

Pendant ses études en droit, M. Simpson a été président de l’association des étudiants en droit autochtones. Il a également siégé au conseil d’administration du Centre d’amitié Soaring Eagle, à Hay River, et donne de son temps au projet d’éducation Canada-Ghana.

Committees

R.J. Simpson
Hay River Nord
Bureau

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Boîte
1320
Extension
11120
Bureau de circonscription

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

Phone
Ministre
Premier ministre des Territoires du Nord-Ouest, Ministère de l’Exécutif et des Affaires autochtones, Ministre de la Justice

Déclarations dans les débats

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 19)

Thank you. We do not have a formal plan. We recognize there is a facility in the community, that the community is taking a hit with the reduction, and we wanted to ensure that we were proactive in raising the possibility of this facility being repurposed. The leadership in the community has been receptive, and I would say that leadership in every single region in the territory has been more than receptive about wanting wellness centres. We've had those requests across the territory. And if that's not what the community wants, then we can work on something else that the community might want...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 19)

Thank you. And I don't want to speak too much about other departments. I don't want to get anything wrong before they appear in front of committee. But one of the main initiatives that I can speak to, because it is in one of my departments, is integrated service delivery. And that is one of the approaches that I hope will begin to address some of these issues. Really, at the end of day, that is the way to stop people from falling through the cracks and deliver the services they need across government. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 19)

Thank you. And as the deputy minister stated earlier, there is a working group looking at the reason, examining the reasons behind the decline. Some of the obvious reasons are changes to the Criminal Code as well as case law handed down from the Supreme Court related to things like bail. And the majority of inmates has, I believe, historically been remanded, and when the Supreme Court and the Criminal Code says no more remanding of individuals except in expectational circumstances, that has a huge impact. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 19)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And that's what this reduction is reflective of, the fact that we no longer need all of that capacity in the system. The South Mackenzie Correctional Facility -- or correctional centre is actually at a lower capacity, but it is something unique that we do not want to get rid of at this point given that it is an initiative that is in line with our goal of addressing the effects of trauma. The South Mackenzie Correctional Centre is piloting a therapeutic model where inmates are actually residents, not inmates, and we attempt to help them gain the tools to stop them from...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 19)

Thank you. In terms of the level of -- or the number of police and the level of crime, we're trying to catch up to the level of crime. And so it is not that more police aren't helping the situation, but the crime rate is rising. We heard yesterday for an hour about the impact drugs are having on communities. I don't need to speak any further to that. That was discussed.

In terms of the increases to the RCMP budget, the way this works is that the RCMP, they look at their operations across the territory, they identify areas where they're feeling pressure, and we've seen some communities with...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 19)

Thank you. So my understanding that, according to the staff retention policy, it would be three months after the budget was passed that the notice would be given. And the staff have been informed. So they're not learning about this on the floor of the House. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 19)

No, I'm not aware of current staffing levels at the rental office. I know that a few years back -- quite a few years back now, I was still an MLA at that point, though -- it was difficult staffing those positions and it was significantly impacting landlords, especially with small landlords, but my constituents, the ones I deal with, and we were seeing quite long delays in dealing with issues. But I don't believe there's any staffing issues at this point. And I just appointed a few people, actually, in that office. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you. Yes, there is a budget for it. I believe the budget has been shared with Members, and if not I can do that. And it is under corporate communications. But I would like to hand it to the director for more information. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you. That's correct. Often there's work that needs to be done to get a program going and so the agreements with the federal government accounted for that, and then the ongoing funding is more reflective of the ongoing needs. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The manual needs to be updated as new there's new developments in best practices and case law and things like that. And so in the future, it's possible that the those roles will be done by other members of the other lawyers in the Legal Aid Commission. We do have a number of lawyers who specialize in family law who deal with children's law. There's opportunities for those staff to have professional development opportunities to learn more about children's law. I'm sure they get notifications in their inbox when there are significant cases that impact the world of...