Simms graduated from Mount Allison University with a Bachelor in Commerce and Loyalist College in Journalism.

[4] Simms was re-elected on Jan. 23, 2006, beating Conservative candidate Aaron Hynes by approximately 5,000 votes.

[2] Simms is also now known by a number of people who live on the west coast of Ireland following the voyage of one of his election posters across the Atlantic Ocean to Keem Bay in the village of Dooagh on Achill Island, County Mayo.

[9][10][11] In April 2018, Simms was removed as Chairman of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans as a result of voting in favour of a Conservative party motion opposing changes to the Canada Summer Jobs program.

Simms was defeated in the 2021 federal election losing to conservative candidate Clifford Small.