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 153)

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Range Lake, that Bill 68, An Act to Amend the Child Day Care Act, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that Bill 81, An Act to Amend the Education Act, No. 2, be read for the second time.

The bill amends the Education Act to update the preamble to

Recognize the vital role that Indigenous peoples and Indigenous governments play in achieving quality and excellence in education;

Clarify a number of defined terms;

Update the procedural requirements to be followed when modifying a school program for a student;

Allow the Minister to access student records for the purposes of evaluating a school program or monitoring student...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And like my colleagues, a lot of what I wanted to say has already been said so I won't repeat it. But I do want to highlight some of the changes that have happened here at the Legislative Assembly since Mr. Mercer took the helm, and I've seen them even in my seven years here; I've seen a number of changes. And I will say that of course the Speaker gets all the credit for the improvements that happen at the Legislative Assembly, and I know Mr. Mercer wouldn't have it any other way. He doesn't want to take any of that credit, but I believe he has a big hand in bringing...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And just to clarify what I said earlier, education is in the purview of the province and the territories and when there is a sort of this constitutional split of responsibilities, we try to stick as closely as we can do that split and so the provinces and territories are generally responsible to billion education infrastructure. That being said, as I stated earlier in my comments to the Member from Monfwi, if there's an Indigenous group that feels like these types of initiatives are part of reconciliation, then that's something we can work on. So I'd be happy to work...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so as the House is aware, we have committed to working with the Tlicho government on procuring a new school for Behchoko. The federal government does not billion schools generally and so in our discussions with the Tlicho government, it's been determined that they would be the best to approach the federal government. And we are fully supporting them once they do that. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Yes.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Yellowknife South that Bill 79, An Act to Amend the Judicature Act, be read for the second time.

This bill amends the Judicature Act to

Replace and update references to the Agreement on Internal Trade with the Canadian Free Trade Agreement of 2017; and,

Add provisions respecting judges of the Court of Appeal who may continue to be seized of actions or causes that they have started to hear before they ceased to hold office.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Mr. Speaker, the moment we've all been waiting for. I wish to present to the House Bill 81, An Act to Amend the Education Act, No. 2, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize one of the new Aurora College board members Stephanie Irlbacher Fox. Thank you for joining us. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 152)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I agree it's a terrible situation. There's some individuals who are suffering. And if you're on income assistance, you're not making a bunch of money to begin with and so I get the concerns. And we took a more compassionate approach than other jurisdictions by exempting certain amounts, but at this point I can't commit to exempting these amounts now. Thank you.