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
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 , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

Thank you, Mr. Testart. Does committee agree?

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will open the floor to general comments on the report 8-18(2). Any general comments? Mr. Testart.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

Thank you, committee. Page 7. Industry, Tourism and Investment. Comments or questions. Seeing none, I will call the page. Industry, Tourism and Investment, operations expenditures, economic diversification and business support, not previously authorized, $225,000. Does committee agree?

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to welcome Jaylene Delorme back to the Assembly; she was here a couple of weeks ago with Daughters of the Vote, so it's always good to have people from Hay River active in the community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

Thank you, committee. Thank you to the Minister and his witnesses for appearing before us. Mr. Testart.

Committee Motion 80-18(2):

Concurrence of Tabled Document 327-18(2): Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 2017-2018,

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

Thank you, committee. Health and Social Services, operations expenditures, community social programs, not previously authorized, $1 million. Does committee agree?

Question 710-18(2): Yellowknife Airport Terminal Hours of Operation
Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

That is not the only person who I have heard has run into this problem. If you are looking at the middle of December, I mean, what do you do? It's freezing outside; for 90 minutes, that will kill you. So I just want to ask the Minister: 90 minutes is not a long time. There is probably security; there is probably somebody at the airport. I'd like to ask the Minister: can he commit to keeping the airport open for that extra 90 minutes so it's open 24 hours a day to avoid these kind of problems in the future?

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

Thank you. Infrastructure, operations expenditures, total department, not previously authorized, $16,931,000. Does committee agree?

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

Thank you, committee. Environment and Natural Resources, operations expenditures, total department, not previously authorized, $310,000. Does committee agree?

Committee Motion 88-18(2): Committee Report 8-18(2), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 Annual Reports of the Information and Privacy Commissioner – Response to Report within 120 Days, Ca
Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 65)

I will now rise and report progress.