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

Motion 31-20(1): Cross-Border Crime Reduction Forum, Carried
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 22)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Members for their impassioned statements. I, as well, have spoken about this many times in the House, the impact of drugs. I didn't hear a lot of comments about the actual motion and the potential efficacy of this motion and so as a Cabinet, we are going to abstain so that we can actually take this back, look at the substance of the motion, look at how it might play out in the real world, and then provide a response back in 120 days. Thank you.

Question 256-20(1): Nutrition North Program
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 22)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have to get back to the Member on if there's been any official level discussions on this. Thank you.

Question 256-20(1): Nutrition North Program
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 22)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll see what I can dig up from the last Assembly and provide it to the Member. Thank you.

Question 254-20(1): High Cost of Food in Northwest Territories
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 22)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We're in the process of assessing all of the strategies that we have here in the Northwest Territories. We have a number of them. Some of them sit on shelves, and they can be very labour intensive to produce and sometimes they're forgotten about. So we are looking at ways to limit the number of strategies we have and be more strategic with that, and I will get back to the Member with an answer to his question. Thank you.

Question 254-20(1): High Cost of Food in Northwest Territories
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 22)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have to get back to the Member with that information. That could have occurred in the last government, but I don't have that information at my fingertips. Thank you.

Question 238-20(1): Crime Reduction
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 21)

Mr. Speaker, I wish I had an answer for that. This is a tough situation. Everywhere that I'm aware of, where there's a demand for drugs, there's an influx of drugs. There's a flow of drugs. And so until we address that demand, it's going to be very difficult to stop the increases in crime. But that being said, the Member noted that there have been significant increases in drug busts, in charges, in seizures of handguns, so we are seeing the impact of enhanced enforcement. Unfortunately, there's also enhanced crime. So it's a bit of a it feels like a bit of an arms race right now. And we are...

Question 238-20(1): Crime Reduction
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 21)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't like to use the term crisis but, in this situation, the influx of drugs, the increase in violent crime, the influx of handguns, I think that we are facing a crisis. The reason I kept the Justice portfolio this term is because I've seen what happened in my community of Hay River, and I wanted to make sure that I was able to follow through on some of the initiatives that we began to start addressing this because it is a deadly serious issue. Thank you.

Minister’s Statement 45-20(1): 40th Anniversary of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement – Inuvialuit Day
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 21)

Mr. Speaker, it is my honour to stand before you to commemorate a significant milestone for Inuvialuit and all residents of the Northwest Territories. This year marks the 40th Anniversary of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement, a landmark event that we celebrate each year on June 5th as Inuvialuit Day.

Forty years ago, the Committee for Original People's Entitlement, signed the Inuvialuit Final Agreement with the Government of Canada. This historic agreement was the first comprehensive land claim north of the 60th Parallel and set a precedent for future negotiations of land, resources, and...

Question 238-20(1): Crime Reduction
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 21)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ultimately, I would like to see an expansion of the community safety officer program. I can't comment on where such a program might be most effective. Right now it is being piloted in Fort Liard. And the program will be evaluated, and that evaluation will inform the types of communities where such a program would be the most effective. So we want to make sure we're getting the best bang for our buck. And so maybe it is a small community type of program, maybe it's for regional centres, it could be for Yellowknife. So that remains to be seen, but we are continuously...

Question 238-20(1): Crime Reduction
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 21)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, you know, we see RCMP around the community. We see them around town out on patrol. They're responding to calls. And that's what they do. They don't necessarily have the time to go out and conduct investigations, to do surveillance, to focus on some of these drugrelated issues because they are out doing their daytoday work. And so the crime reduction unit is able to work in those areas where the other constables just don't have the time to do it and aren't mandated to do that type of work. So they will be focusing on drugs, bootlegging, which often go hand in hand...