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

Committee Motion 3-19(2): Tabled Document 30-19(2): Main Estimates 2020-2021 – Justice – Deferral of Further Consideration of the Estimates for the Department of Justice, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

Thank you. I'm going to hand this over to Mr. Saturnino who can, perhaps, provide a bit more detail. Thank you.

Committee Motion 3-19(2): Tabled Document 30-19(2): Main Estimates 2020-2021 – Justice – Deferral of Further Consideration of the Estimates for the Department of Justice, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

Thank you, and thank you to the Member for the comment. With such a large department, with such a large budget, an increase that would be a large percentage in another department might not show up as such a large increase here, but I appreciate the Member's support for education and advancing the priorities of the Assembly. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Committee Motion 3-19(2): Tabled Document 30-19(2): Main Estimates 2020-2021 – Justice – Deferral of Further Consideration of the Estimates for the Department of Justice, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

Thank you. No, we haven't done that work. This is particularly a team to support the principals, teachers, program support teachers. It's an interesting thought, and we can look into it, but we haven't done that to date. Thank you.

Committee Motion 3-19(2): Tabled Document 30-19(2): Main Estimates 2020-2021 – Justice – Deferral of Further Consideration of the Estimates for the Department of Justice, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

Thank you. I think this would likely be more of a repeal-and-replace than a few amendments here and there. One of the main considerations is the fact that the Member just referenced that we need a piece of legislation that allows Indigenous governments to devolve the authorities that they have that our legislation currently doesn't allow. Thank you.

Committee Motion 3-19(2): Tabled Document 30-19(2): Main Estimates 2020-2021 – Justice – Deferral of Further Consideration of the Estimates for the Department of Justice, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

Thank you. Currently, we do not, and I can't speak for ITI because ITI is also involved in the arts, but that is something that we are looking at with ITI in the development of the new arts strategy. That's something I've always been critical of myself. I appreciate art. I appreciate artists. If we're doing it as an investment in the economy, are we getting a good bang for our buck? We're doing that work to find out. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Committee Motion 3-19(2): Tabled Document 30-19(2): Main Estimates 2020-2021 – Justice – Deferral of Further Consideration of the Estimates for the Department of Justice, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

Thank you.

Committee Motion 3-19(2): Tabled Document 30-19(2): Main Estimates 2020-2021 – Justice – Deferral of Further Consideration of the Estimates for the Department of Justice, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

[Microphone turned off]

Committee Motion 3-19(2): Tabled Document 30-19(2): Main Estimates 2020-2021 – Justice – Deferral of Further Consideration of the Estimates for the Department of Justice, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

Yes, I do.

Committee Motion 3-19(2): Tabled Document 30-19(2): Main Estimates 2020-2021 – Justice – Deferral of Further Consideration of the Estimates for the Department of Justice, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

Thank you. Recently, we started working with the territorial support team, which is a group of professionals centred in Yellowknife. There are three positions right now, and they assist teachers in schools with instructions for children with higher needs. There is a speech pathologist, occupational therapist, and a mental health specialist, and they travel around the territory to the schools to do visits. They also offer remote support through telephone, email, et cetera, but that's what that increase is reflective of. Thank you.

Committee Motion 3-19(2): Tabled Document 30-19(2): Main Estimates 2020-2021 – Justice – Deferral of Further Consideration of the Estimates for the Department of Justice, Carried
Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 13)

Thank you. I can work with the Minister of Finance to figure that out. The amount that exists in the department of Education, Culture and Employment is zero because this is money that is applied for by the education councils, not by us. Thank you.