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 165)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This program is being offered independently of the college, or it will be. And like the Member's said, the ENRTP is a worldrenowned program. Not just one of the jewels of Aurora College, I'd said it's one of the jewels of the Northwest Territories so I can't imagine that the program has anything to worry about. The program that is out for public input right now and I encourage everyone, including the Member, to provide that input is focused on, you know, really the Yellowknives Dene and it was developed in concert with them. It focuses on Dene ways of knowing, doing...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so just to be clear, the program is not being offered at the college. It has nothing to do with Aurora College. This is a program that is a partnership between Trent University and the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. So I would assume that it was the Yellowknives Dene who really initiated this. I know they're working very closely together. And I expect, or I understand that at least the first intake would likely all be Yellowknives Dene members. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that Bill 94, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes. With, you know, income assistance does provide funding for rent as does the housing corporation. So, you know, we have two essentially parallel housing support programs in the territory. So we have been working with the housing corporation figuring out, you know, where we can reduce some of these redundancies and how we can better support clients. So, yes, that work is ongoing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, of course, we are currently deliberating the capital budget in Committee of the Whole, so I don't want to go too much into that because that document is properly before committee of the House. But I can say that ECE has taken undertaken work to explore the renovation or replacement of the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre and, in particular, as the Member mentions, the need for archival space. So there has been a comprehensive planning study, the development of estimates to explore various options ranging from replacing the entire museum to pursuing more...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you. I'd like to welcome back Laura Jeffrey, legislative counsel with Justice. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm here today to present Bill 94: Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2023.

The purpose of Bill 94 is to amend various statutes of the Northwest Territories for which minor changes are proposed or errors or inconsistencies have been identified. Each amendment included in the bill had to meet the following criteria:

it must not be controversial;

It must not involve the spending of public funds;

It must not prejudicially affect rights; and,

It must not create a new offence or subject a new class of persons to an existing offence.

Departments responsible for the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Yes, I would.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, of course, legal opinions aren't shared on the floor of the House. But I will say that the territorial archivist, boy, I would feel for them if they were alone. But in addition, there's two senior archivists, two digital record archivists, an archive and library technician, and an audiovisual archivist. Given all that, though, I know they're still quite busy. And that team knows better than anyone that we do need to upgrade our facilities and work on the act because, you know, the things that need to be stored under the act are part of the issue, actually. So this...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 164)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I don't want the Member to get ahead of himself. Proposing that a new building be built and having a grand opening are two very different things. So we'll see what happens in the future.

Every year the government proposes a slate of legislation that they would like to see proceed. About half of that legislation actually makes its way through an Assembly and is passed. So I can't speak for previous years, but there's been a number of pieces of legislation and the priorities of the Assembly have dictated what has made its way through and what hasn't. And, unfortunately...