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
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 , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 67)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And now that we understand the process, this process, as played out this year, won't happen again. So I can promise the Member that. As long as we have proper flow of information, we can proceed through these instances without any issues.

In terms of bringing forward a Residential School Grave Site Repatriation Act, I can say that the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment oversees the Archaeological Sites Act and that is one of the pieces of legislation that has to go through the Intergovernmental Council for amendment or repeal and replace, or whatever the case...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 67)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that this instance highlights the importance of working together. The fact is there were processes in place, very clear defined processes that, in the end, they were followed. The problems were that the information that was needed to initiate those processes wasn't understood by everyone involved. And so my office became involved in this and there were daily phone calls to try and gather this information. And once the entire picture was in view, we were able to proceed through an established process to get to where we needed to go. So with that understanding, we...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 67)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's up to the families. The families can make a request to have that done, and there's processes in place to make that a reality as we're seeing today. And so I don't see any reason why this wouldn't continue next year if the families wish it to continue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 66)

Okay, thank you. You know, I'm happy that -- when I first started here, you know, we didn't have streaming online. We didn't have Facebook Live or anything like that. And so I've seen the progression so it's great to see how we can get information out there. And I know that in a lot of small communities I go to, the elders watch on NorthwesTel. They don't all have streaming devices, and I suspect it might be similar in other places where we don't have NorthwesTel, and so I just wonder how many people no longer have access to the Assembly's -- you know, the feed. So that was my concern. I see...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 66)

Thank you. So like other satellite providers, like STAR Choice and Bell, is the leg accessible on those platforms as well? Thanks.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 66)

Yes, well, I've got seven and a half minutes left so I intend to take my time. Thank you.

So, you know -- so in Hay River, we don't have NorthwesTel. We don't have cable wired in. So I think people would actually watch it on satellite there in my office, my constituency office. That's what we would do. And so do we have -- do we know how many people watched through satellite versus through cable versus streaming; Do we have any of those types of numbers? Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 66)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just have some questions about the broadcasting system. Am I on the right section here? Yes, that's the only section, I guess.

I know that there have been some changes to the broadcasting system here. We used to have access to the Legislative Assembly proceedings on satellite, one of the only legislature required by law to be carried by satellite providers. But I understand that that has now changed. I think our equipment was outdated, and we couldn't get the signal out or something. So I was just wondering how this change has gone over and whether there is -- you know...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 65)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So we're trying to keep things simple. When we're talking about going to the feds to look for funding to build a road, that's what we're looking for. The larger idea of the corridor, which involves different modes of transportation, different pieces of infrastructure, it's something that we're also live to and we do have discussions with the federal government about it. Myself and the deputy Premier met with the Minister of National Defence, and we discussed a number of different pieces of infrastructure in the territory and different needs we have, including the...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 65)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also wanted to recognize former Member and former Speaker who I worked with as deputy Speaker and current grand chief of the Tlicho government, Mr. Jackson Lafferty. Great partner to the GNWT and has been great to work with him to help advance some of these projects that the territory desperately needs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 65)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a number of departments and Ministers working on advancing the Yellowknife Airport project in terms of upgrades and looking at the future potential, and we'll continue to do that and take a whole-of-government approach. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.