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

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

So with the transfer of integrated case management unit from the Department of Justice, along came $854,000 with that. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

(audio).

Committee Motion 5-20(1): Tabled Document 93-20(1): Main Estimates 2024-2025, Deferral of Department – Executive and Indigenous Affairs, Carried
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you. So they will be looking at the community partnerships and the activities that were undertaken, the number of calls for support, as well as the impact on the RCMP calls for support, and prisoner counts. So I don't have the exact details. I don't have the evaluation framework here, but I would imagine that when you look at things like community partnerships and activities, there's interviews with other groups in the community and things like that. But once that evaluation framework is finalized, we can share that. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you very much. The NGO sector is more part of EIA than ever given that EIA is now responsible for integrated service delivery. With that comes the homelessness file. The reason that integrated services and homelessness is in EIA is because when it was in Justice, and I was the justice Minister, I found that the Minister had no authority to actually integrate services, that the program with integrated case management was just a program of the Department of Justice. And so to the comments earlier about why homelessness is in EIA, it is beside integrating service as the approach we're...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you. So in Indigenous and intergovernmental affairs, the division we're currently discussing in the main estimates, there won't be any movement. What we're talking about with integrated service delivery is colocating GNWT services. So it could be housing and income assistance and social services. But those are existing positions; it's just a matter of getting them physically close to each other, ensuring there's proper agreements in place so that they can share information amongst themselves. And there are opportunities to work with Indigenous governments as well. I know that TCSA has...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you. So in this division, I don't believe so. But we have or sorry, I guess the PUB is we do have someone in the PUB in Hay River. So that's one example. Thank you.

Committee Motion 5-20(1): Tabled Document 93-20(1): Main Estimates 2024-2025, Deferral of Department – Executive and Indigenous Affairs, Carried
Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you. The budget is $303,000 per year. Thank you.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Yes, I do.

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And so there is an office in Ottawa that is leased by the GNWT. There has been a position associated with that office. That is proposed as a reduction, that position. But we have a number of years left on that lease. And so we are looking at how to best utilize that space, and there are discussions happening. I know that the space is used by Indigenous governments, by negotiators, by Regular Members. I used the office myself as a Regular Member. So we definitely see the value in it. We want to be able to bring federal Ministers into our space in Ottawa, take them out of...

Debates of , 20th Assembly, 1st Session (day 18)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Public Utilities Board is the energy regulator in the Northwest Territories. So if NT Power Corporation wants to increase its prices, it has to make an application to the Public Utilities Board. We have a Minister responsible for the Public Utilities Board, and that is Minister McKay. It is arm's length from government as it is it regulates, you know, government entities. And the budget has remained the same, I believe, for many years. I briefly held this portfolio about four years ago, and the budget is relatively similar to what it was then. Thank you.