R.J. Simpson

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
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

Recorded Vote
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 111)

In favour.

Tabled Document 633-19(2): Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 997-19(2): Correctional Facilities
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 111)

I wish to table the following document: Followup Letter for Oral Question 99719(2): Correctional Facilities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Member’s Statement 1077-19(2): Filming of “Cold Road” in South Slave
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 111)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have a lot of success stories here in the Northwest Territories, and it’s important that we highlight those stories to show our residents, and especially our youth, what’s possible.

Mr. Speaker, if you travelled to Hay River, or Katl'odeeche, or Enterprise lately, you may have been wondering whether you took a wrong turn somewhere and accidentally wound up in Hollywood. That’s because for the past few weeks, Hay River has been serving as a filming location for the upcoming fulllength film Cold Road. The man behind this project is Hay River’s own Kelvin...

Bill 41: Justice Administrations Statutes Amendment Act, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 111)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 41: Justice Administrations Statutes Amendment Act be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Bill 39: An Act to Amend the Post-Secondary Education Act, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 111)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 39: An Act to Amend the Post-Secondary Education Act be read for the third time. Thank you.

Bill 51: Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), 2022-2023, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 111)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think if any one of us designed this budget, it would not look the way it looks. I have things that I would like to see in here that aren't in here, and the same goes for every single Member. None of us gets everything we want. And that is consensus government. We hope we end up with something that is suited for all of us to the best to the best of our abilities. And this is a budget that we put together to the best of our abilities given our our priorities and our limitations.

To the Members who are, you know, wishing to see this budget fail, who are voting against...

Recorded Vote
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 111)

In favour.

Tabled Document 633-19(2): Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 997-19(2): Correctional Facilities
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 111)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let's open up another round of oral questions; so much fun. Mr. Speaker

Question 1064-19(2): Increasing Immigration to the Northwest Territories
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 110)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I agree, we need to grow our population. We need to increase the number of qualified professionals we have here in the territory. And that is why myself and the Minister of ITI have spoken about the immigration file and how we can better combine our efforts. And perhaps that is looking at amalgamating our resources and using them more efficiently. But there is I can assure the Member that while I can't just say yes to everything that she asked, I can say that this is a we do have a renewed focus on this, and we are moving in the direction that the Member would...

Question 1063-19(2): Increasing Immigration to the Northwest Territories
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 110)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We're not looking to do something like that right now; however, I will say that I have been involved in meetings with all of the ministers of education from across Canada, and we talk about these exact type of things. So I definitely see the value in it.

And I think that as a government, we have to choose what our focuses are, and we can't do everything. We don't invest as much money in immigration as places like the Yukon do. I'm not sure what their budget is, but I know that it is more, and they have more employers, and they can put more emphasis on this.

And so in the...