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

R.J. Simpson
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 89)

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I will say that our immigration strategy is a strategy for 2017 to 2022, and so it ends next year. So the work to renew that will necessarily involve meeting with industry stakeholders, meeting with employers, and determining what we can do to address any of those systemic or systematic barriers that they are facing. So I can definitely commit that we are going to do that work.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 89)

Thank you, Madam Speaker. So there is a Northern Immigration Summit where Nunavut, the Yukon, and the NWT get together with IRCC and they discuss the environment and ways to improve immigration services and, frankly, get more immigrants to the Northwest Territories and the other northern territories. And so through this work, we do work with our neighboring territories. And from this work, there is also a new position that is being funded by immigration Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada to coordinate these efforts even further. So it is a panterritorial position to help coordinate...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 89)

Madam Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Followup Letter for Oral Question 79019(2): Land Issues in Tlicho Communities. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 89)

Thank you, Madam Speaker. And I don't have to sell the value of education to the federal government. When I meet with Minister Vandal, when I meet with any Ministers, they appreciate the value of education. It's pretty easy to look at a chart and see that the more education you have, the more prosperous you are as an individual and the more prosperous your community and territory are. So there's plenty of excitement.

And I would also say that in addition to those interactions I have, the officials from the Aurora College and the Aurora College transformation team are in contact with federal...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 89)

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The ask that resulted in the $8 million contribution from the federal government was an ask for $8 million. We got every penny that we asked for. It is for the:

Development of a facilities plan, including making sure we go and do the proper engagement;

A research services team pilot, which is a way to advance the research environment in the Northwest Territories, bring more money into the Northwest Territories via research and really build connections among the research community in the Northwest Territories; and,

Money for the Western Arctic Research Centre expansion...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 87)

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 36, an Act to Amend to the Territorial Court Act be read for the third time, and Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 87)

Thank you, Madam Chair. So we have had an existing deal with the Government of Canada for a number of years. They have been providing us funding for early learning and child care in and around the tune of $2.5 million a year. We have re-signed that deal recently. And so that is this funding here. And this will be in addition to any funding we receive through the Canada-wide Early Learning Child Care Agreement. And so instead of being rolled up into one single agreement, we have a couple of agreements going at the same time. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 87)

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, December 2nd, 2021, I will move that Bill 41, Justice Administration Statutes Amendment Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 87)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the money is rolling out. It is supporting a number of initiatives. Of course, we have the early learning child care diploma program at Aurora College that this money's helping fund. For the first time now that there is a distancebased early learning child care certificate, that people don't have to come to the campus to take. They can take it in their home communities. There's work on dual credit courses for interested secondary senior secondary school students. As well, we are supporting college Nordique to deliver postsecondary programming in French for early...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 87)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member stated, I've already said publicly we should have this agreement finalized by the end of the year, in the coming weeks, in the coming week. It's very close. That being said, it's not finalized and so I can't say how many spaces, what costs, etcetera.

If you look at every other deal that's been made, though, there is some indications that there's a reduction in fees at the end of 2022 by a certain amount, and after five years there's a desire to get to around $10 a day average. So there are some things that have appeared in every other agreement. But I can't...