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

Oral Question 897-19(2): Mandatory Vaccination Policy
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 93)

Mr. Speaker, point of order.

Oral Question 900-19(2): Family Day
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 93)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, and I wish the Member a happy Monday. Thank you.

---Laughter

Oral Question 899-19(2): Community Gas Tax Funding and Water Issues in Behchoko
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 93)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is imputing motives to the Minister, saying that he's making comments in an attempt to discredit the municipality. I think it's a pretty clear one. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral Question 897-19(2): Mandatory Vaccination Policy
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 93)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A number of times the Member has stated that the government has a mandatory vaccination policy and has stated that GNWT employees are being required to get vaccinated or being laid off, and both of those are false. The Member is uttering falsehoods about the government and its policies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral Question 884-19(2): Paid Sick Leave and the Employment Standards Act
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 92)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Any changes to the Employment Standards Act, especially potential changes that could cost small businesses money, will be the subject of extensive consultation and discussion with small businesses. I do not want to do anything that is going to put a heavier burden on small businesses than they're already carrying. So I can guarantee the Member that we will have extensive consultations on these points. Thank you.

Oral Question 884-19(2): Paid Sick Leave and the Employment Standards Act
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 92)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And again, when we look at this review it's something we can look at. There's other ways that unpaid sick leaves are implemented in other jurisdictions. So some provide some Employment Standards Act provide for extended medical leave. In some cases, in line with the EI sickness benefits. So there are some options more than just beyond just adding days. But I want to say that I think that this pandemic has shown us that when you're sick, you should stay home, even if it's a flu. Those kind of things really do they hinder the economy, they hinder the public health...

Member’s Statement on Recognizing Hay River Organizations
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 92)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it seems like just yesterday people were counting the days until we were done with 2020, and they thought that 2021 was going to bring nothing but sunny days. While we've seen some great things happen this year, it's been a tough year. People here or their communities have really experienced the effects of COVID and my community as well. It hasn't been all good for all people but a lot of people have stepped up. I have heard my colleagues thank the leadership of their community, and I have to do the same.

We saw people stepping up, businesses stepping up to...

Tabled Document 539-19(2): Critical Minerals Workshop Information Package
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 92)

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Northwest Territories Coroner Service 2020 Annual Report Including 10 year Review 20112020. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oral Question 887-19(2): Community Justice Programs
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 92)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And evaluations are something that we really learned to value with this funding because some of the issues that the department ran into early on with the new day program was the inability to really evaluate outcomes and how well it was working. And so all of these contribution agreements here require that there be reporting. There will be some shortterm measures, so just things like the participation rates in the program and the feedback from clients. But we also require some more longterm reporting. And I will follow up with the department to ensure that we do have...

Oral Question 887-19(2): Community Justice Programs
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 92)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And of course the new day program ended. It was not renewed by the Department of Justice, and so I'm glad the Member today read one of the Minister of Health's old statements and not one of my old statements from last term about the new day program.

I think that so the program has ended, but the money is still there. And so what the department has done is looked at other ways to utilize that money. We found that the new day program was not working for the Northwest Territories for a number of reasons, and we didn't want to continue down that road. But we have intimate...