History of Northwest Territories capital cities

Northwest Territories capitals

City	Years
Fort Garry Fort Garry Fort Garry, also known as Upper Fort Garry, was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers in what is now downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1822 on or near the site of the North West Company's Fort Gibraltar. Fort Garry was named after Nicholas...	1870–1876
Fort Livingstone Fort Livingstone, Saskatchewan Fort Livingstone was founded as an outpost in Northwest Territories, Canada.The outpost briefly served as the capital city for North-West Territories government for the years of 1874 to 1876, and headquarters for the North-West Mounted Police for the same period, until they moved headquarters to...	1876–1877
Battleford	1877–1883
Regina Regina, Saskatchewan Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...	1883–1905
Ottawa	1905–1967
Fort Smith Fort Smith, Northwest Territories Fort Smith is a town in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is located in the southeastern portion of the Northwest Territories, on the Slave River and adjacent to the NWT/Alberta border.-History:Fort Smith's history began because of the Slave River and the vital link...	1911–1967
Yellowknife Yellowknife, Northwest Territories Yellowknife is the capital and largest city of the Northwest Territories , Canada. It is located on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, approximately south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of the Yellowknife River...	1967–present

The history of Northwest Territories capital cities begins with the purchase of the Territories by Canada from the Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson's Bay Company

The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...

in 1869 and includes a varied and often difficult evolution. Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...

is unique amongst the other provinces and territories of Canada

Provinces and territories of Canada

The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...

in that it has had seven capital cities in its history. The territory has changed the seat of government for numerous reasons, including civil conflict, development of infrastructure, and a history of significant revisions to its territorial boundaries.

The result of these changes has been a long and complex road to responsible government

Responsible government

Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy...

. Effectively providing services and representation for the population has been a particular challenge for the Territories' government, a task often complicated by the region's vast and changing geographic area. A small number of communities in Northwest Territories have unsuccessfully tried to become the capital over the years. The territory has had the seat of government outside of its territorial boundaries twice in its history. The only other political division in Canada without a seat of government inside its own boundaries was the defunct District of Keewatin

District of Keewatin

The District of Keewatin was a territory of Canada and later an administrative district of the Northwest Territories.The name "Keewatin" comes from Algonquian roots—either kīwēhtin in Cree or giiwedin in Ojibwe—both of which mean north wind in their respective languages...

that existed from 1876 until 1905.

The term "capital" refers to cities that have served as home for the Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories

Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories

The Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories or Legislative Council of the Northwest Territories, Canada, is located in Yellowknife. The Assembly is a unicameral elected body that creates and amends law in the Northwest Territories...

, the legislative branch of Northwest Territories government. In Canada, it is customary for provincial and territorial level government to have the administrative centre of the civil service

Civil service

The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....

in the same city as the legislative branch. The Northwest Territories, however, had separate administrative and legislative capitals officially exist between 1911 and 1967. This is the only province or territory in Canadian history to have had such an arrangement.

Fort Garry, Manitoba (1870–1876)

The Government of Canada purchased the North-Western Territory

North-Western Territory

The North-Western Territory was a region of British North America until 1870. Named for where it lay in relation to Rupert's Land, the territory at its greatest extent covered what is now Yukon, mainland Northwest Territories, northwestern mainland Nunavut, northwestern Saskatchewan, northern...

and Rupert's Land

Rupert's Land

Rupert's Land, or Prince Rupert's Land, was a territory in British North America, consisting of the Hudson Bay drainage basin that was nominally owned by the Hudson's Bay Company for 200 years from 1670 to 1870, although numerous aboriginal groups lived in the same territory and disputed the...

from the Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson's Bay Company

in 1868 under the terms of the Rupert's Land Act 1868 for £300,000 British pounds. Both purchased territories were largely uninhabited, consisting mostly of uncharted wilderness. After the purchase, the Government decided to merge both of the properties into a single jurisdiction and appoint a single territorial government to run both. The purchase of the two territories added a sizable portion of the current Canadian landmass.

In 1869, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

William McDougall

William McDougall (politician)

Sir William McDougall PC CB was a Canadian lawyer, politician and one of the Fathers of Confederation.Born near York, Upper Canada...

was appointed as the first Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories

Lieutenant-Governors of Northwest Territories

This is a list of historical lieutenant-governors of Northwest Territories, Canada. The position of Lieutenant-Governor lasted from the acquisition of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory in 1869 to the creation of Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905....

and sent to Fort Garry

Fort Garry

Fort Garry, also known as Upper Fort Garry, was a Hudson's Bay Company trading post at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers in what is now downtown Winnipeg. It was established in 1822 on or near the site of the North West Company's Fort Gibraltar. Fort Garry was named after Nicholas...

to establish formal governance for Canada. Before his party arrived at the settlement, a small group led by Louis Riel

Louis Riel

Louis David Riel was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political and spiritual leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairies. He led two resistance movements against the Canadian government and its first post-Confederation Prime Minister, Sir John A....

intercepted him near the Ontario border and forced him to turn back because they opposed the transfer to the Canadian government. The inhabitants of the Red River Valley

Red River Valley

The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North. It is significant in the geography of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba for its relatively fertile lands and the population centers of Fargo, Moorhead, Grand Forks, and Winnipeg...

began the Red River Rebellion

Red River Rebellion

The Red River Rebellion or Red River Resistance was the sequence of events related to the 1869 establishment of a provisional government by the Métis leader Louis Riel and his followers at the Red River Settlement, in what is now the Canadian province of Manitoba.The Rebellion was the first crisis...

delaying formal governance until their demands for provincial status were met.

The rebellion resulted in the creation of the Province of Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

(inclusive of Fort Garry) and a delay in establishing governance in the Territories. In 1870, the Northwest Territories and Manitoba formally entered the Canadian confederation

Canadian Confederation

Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...

. The two jurisdictions remained partially conjoined: under the Temporary Government Act, 1870. The Temporary North-West Council

Temporary North-West Council

The Temporary North-West Council more formally known as the Council of the Northwest Territories and by its short name as the North-West Council lasted from the creation of Northwest Territories, Canada, in 1870 until it was dissolved in 1876...

was appointed in 1872, mainly from members of the new Manitoba Legislative Assembly, with the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba serving as the leader of the territorial government. The Governor and Council were mandated to govern the Territories through the Manitoba Act

Manitoba Act

The Manitoba Act, originally titled An Act to amend and continue the Act 32 and 33 Victoria, chapter 3; and to establish and provide for the Government of the Province of Manitoba, is an act of the Parliament of Canada that is defined by the Constitution Act, 1982 as forming a part of the...

and did so from outside of the Northwest Territories. Fort Garry served as the first seat of government for both jurisdictions.

The temporary government sat for the first time in 1872 and was renewed by federal legislation each year until a permanent solution for governance was decided upon. The federal government renewed the Temporary Council for the last time in 1875 and chose a new location, within the boundaries of the Northwest Territories, to form a new government. Along with the new seat of power, a new council greatly reduced in size was appointed along with a new Lieutenant Governor

Lieutenant-Governors of Northwest Territories

to specifically lead the Territories without also governing Manitoba.

In the 1870s Fort Garry consisted of two distinct settlement. The first site was named Upper Fort Garry and secondary site named Lower Fort Garry

Lower Fort Garry

Lower Fort Garry was built in 1830 by the Hudson's Bay Company on the western bank of the Red River, north of the original Fort Garry, which is now in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Treaty 1 was signed there....

32 kilometres (19.9 mi) downstream on the Red River

Red River of the North

The Red River is a North American river. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers in the United States, it flows northward through the Red River Valley and forms the border between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota before continuing into Manitoba, Canada...

. After the territorial government moved, Fort Garry continued to be the seat of government for Manitoba, and for the now defunct District of Keewatin

District of Keewatin

territory between 1876 to 1905. Fort Garry evolved to become modern-day Winnipeg, still the capital of Manitoba, with Lower Fort Garry being declared a national historical site.

Fort Livingstone, Northwest Territories (1876–1877)

The Northwest Territories Act, 1875 dissolved the Temporary North-West Council

Temporary North-West Council

and appointed a permanent government to take effect on October 7, 1876. The new council

1st Council of the Northwest Territories

This is a list of appointed and elected members of the 1st Council of the Northwest Territories in Canada from November 7, 1876 to 1888. Prior to 1876, members were appointed to the Temporary North-West Council....

governed from Fort Livingstone, an outpost constructed west of the Manitoba border, in modern-day Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

. Fort Livingstone served as a small frontier outpost and not as a bona fide capital city. The location was chosen by the federal government as a temporary site to establish the new territorial government until the route of the railway was determined.

Fort Livingstone was founded in 1875 by the newly created North-West Mounted Police

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...

, the predecessor of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada's national police force. The Swan River North-West Mounted Police Barracks, inside Fort Livingstone, became the temporary assembly building for legislative council sessions as well as the office for the Lieutenant Governor.

The bulk of the police forces moved out to Fort Macleod

Fort Macleod, Alberta

Fort Macleod is a town in the southwest corner of the province of Alberta, Canada. It was founded as a North-West Mounted Police barracks, and is named in honour of the North-West Mounted Police Colonel James Macleod. The town's current mayor is Shawn Patience.- History and heritage preservation...

in 1876 to crack down on the whiskey trade. A year later, Lieutenant Governor David Laird

David Laird

David Laird, PC was the first resident Lieutenant Governor of Northwest Territories, Canada. He was the fifth Lieutenant Governor in charge of the territory....

moved the seat of government to Battleford. The decision was based upon the original plans of constructing the Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

(CPR) through Battleford.

Fort Livingstone continued to serve as a small outpost until being totally destroyed by a prairie grass fire in 1884. The nearest modern settlement to the original Fort Livingstone site is Pelly

Pelly, Saskatchewan

-External links:********...

, Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

, four kilometers to the south. The fort is sometimes referred to as Fort Pelly or Swan River. The Fort Livingstone site is marked with a plaque as was declared a Saskatchewan provincial heritage site and contains no resident population.

Battleford, Northwest Territories (1877–1883)

The Northwest Territories government moved to Battleford in 1877 on the order of the Lieutenant Governor. Battleford was supposed to be the permanent capital of the Territories. The town was chosen because it was expected to be linked with the Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

.

The government in Battleford would see significant milestones towards attaining responsible government for the Northwest Territories. For the first time, the territory had democratically elected members join the appointed members in the assembly. Elections in the territory became a reality after the passage of the Northwest Territories election ordinance 1880. The first election took place in 1881 after electoral districts were created by royal proclamations, issued the order of the Lieutenant Governor. Battleford hosted the first official royal visit in western Canada, when the Marquis of Lorne and Princess Louise Caroline Alberta toured the territories in 1881.

The first Northwest Territories legislature building, and residence for the Lieutenant Governor named "NWT Government House", was completed and used by the territorial government until 1883. After the government moved the building stood as a historical site until it was destroyed in a fire in 2003.

After consultation with Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

officials, Lieutenant Governor Edgar Dewdney

Edgar Dewdney

Edgar Dewdney, PC was a Canadian politician born in Devonshire, England. He served as Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Territories and the fifth Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia.-Early life and career:...

made the decision to move the capital to Regina

Regina, Saskatchewan

Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...

, also in present-day Saskatchewan, in June 1882. The decision to move the capital was controversial with the public because Edgar Dewdney owned real estate in Regina. He was accused of having conflicted interests between his private affairs and the needs of the government.

Regina, Northwest Territories (1883–1905)

After Edgar Dewdney

Edgar Dewdney

ordered that the government be moved south to meet the railway in Regina, it was confirmed as the new territorial capital on March 27, 1883. Construction of a new legislature began. In Regina, the government continued to grow as the size of the settlement increased rapidly. The legislature had the most sitting members in Northwest Territories history after the fifth general election

Northwest Territories general election, 1902

The Northwest Territories general election of 1902, occurred on 21 May 1902 and was the fifth general election in the history of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories. This was the last election held until 1951,...

in 1902.

The government in Regina struggled to deliver services to the vast territory. The influx of settlers and responsibility for the Klondike

Klondike, Yukon

The Klondike is a region of the Yukon in northwest Canada, east of the Alaska border. It lies around the Klondike River, a small river that enters the Yukon from the east at Dawson....

, as well as constant fighting with the federal government over limited legislative powers and minimal revenue collection, hampered the effectiveness of government. The government during this period slowly released powers to the elected members. In 1897, after control of the executive council was ceded to elected members from the Lieutenant-Governors, a short-lived period of party politics evolved that challenged the consensus model of government

Consensus government

Consensus government is a form of consensus democracy government in Canada in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, as well as Nunatsiavut, an autonomous area in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador....

that had been used since 1870.

The territorial government under the leadership of Premier Frederick Haultain struck a deal with the federal Government of Canada

Government of Canada

The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...

in early 1905 to bring provincial powers to the territories. This led to the creation of the provinces of Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

and Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

from the southernmost and most populous areas of the territory. The Northwest Territories, reduced to its northern, lightly populated hinterland, continued to exist under the 1870s constitutional status under control of the federal government. A new council was convened in Ottawa, Ontario

Ontario

to deal with the region.

The Territorial Administration Building was declared a historical site by the Saskatchewan government after it was restored by the Saskatchewan Government in 1979, the building remains standing to this day. The territorial government would not have another permanent legislature of its own design until 1993. After 1905, Regina continued to serve as capital for the province of Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Ottawa, Ontario as legislative capital (1905–1967)

In 1905, under the direction of Wilfrid Laurier

Wilfrid Laurier

Sir Wilfrid Laurier, GCMG, PC, KC, baptized Henri-Charles-Wilfrid Laurier was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada from 11 July 1896 to 6 October 1911....

, the Northwest Territories seat of government was moved to Ottawa, Ontario, the capital of Canada. This change was made when Northwest Territories defaulted back to the 1870 constitutional status after Alberta and Saskatchewan were sectioned off from the territory on September 1, 1905. After the populated regions of the territory were made into their own jurisdictions, there were very few settlements left in the territory with any significant population or infrastructure. The non-Inuit population was estimated to total around 1,000. Inuit

Inuit

The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...

were not counted at the time because they had no status under Canadian law, and were not yet settled in towns or villages.

In the period without a sitting council from 1905 to 1921, the government of the Territories was small but still active. A small civil service force was sent to Fort Smith to set the town up as the new administrative capital in 1911. A budget to provide minimal services was still given by the federal government. Commissioner Frederick D. White

Frederick D. White

Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick D. White was the first Commissioner of the Northwest Territories from August 24, 1905, to June 27, 1919 and former commander of the North-West Mounted Police.-Police career:...

administered the territories day-to-day operations during that period. During this 16-year lapse in legislative government, no new laws were created, and the Territories and its population were severely neglected even with the services provided at the time.

The first session of the new council was called to order in 1921, a full 16 years after the government was dissolved in Regina. This new government contained no serving member who was resident in the Territories. The council during this period was primarily composed of high-level civil servants who lived and worked in Ottawa. The first person to sit on the council since 1905 who actually resided from within the Territories was John G. McNiven

John G. McNiven

John Graham "Jock" McNiven was a mine engineer, mine operator and politician from the Northwest Territories, Canada....

who was appointed in 1947.

The Ottawa-based council eventually grew sensitive to the needs of the territory residents. Democracy returned to the territories in the sixth general election

Northwest Territories general election, 1951

The Northwest Territories General election of 1951 held on September 17, 1951 was the sixth general election in the Northwest Territories, Canada, and the first since the 1902 election...

in 1951. After the election, the council was something of a vagabond

Vagabond (person)

A vagabond is a drifter and an itinerant wanderer who roams wherever they please, following the whim of the moment. Vagabonds may lack residence, a job, and even citizenship....

body, with alternating sittings in Ottawa, and various communities in Northwest Territories. The council held meetings in school gymnasiums, community halls, board rooms, or any suitable infrastructure. The council even transported ceremonial implements to conduct meetings with such as the speakers chair

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories

The Speaker is the presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories The speakership has changed many times from 1876 to 1888 the presiding officer of the assembly was the Lieutenant-Governor of the Northwest Territories, however Members of the Legislative Assembly would...

and mace

Ceremonial mace

The ceremonial mace is a highly ornamented staff of metal or wood, carried before a sovereign or other high official in civic ceremonies by a mace-bearer, intended to represent the official's authority. The mace, as used today, derives from the original mace used as a weapon...

. Both are traditional artifacts common to Westminster

Westminster System

The Westminster system is a democratic parliamentary system of government modelled after the politics of the United Kingdom. This term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....

style parliaments.

Legislative sessions held in Ottawa were conducted in an office building on Sparks Street

Sparks Street

Sparks Street is a street in downtown Ottawa, Canada that was converted into an outdoor pedestrian street in 1966, making it the earliest such street or mall in North America....

. The Northwest Territories government continues to hold an office in Ottawa on Sparks Street to this day. In 1965, a federal government commission was set up to determine a new home for the government and the future of the territory. The seat of government was moved back inside the territories to Yellowknife, after it was selected capital in 1967.

Fort Smith, Northwest Territories as administrative capital (1911–1967)

Fort Smith

Fort Smith, Northwest Territories

Fort Smith is a town in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is located in the southeastern portion of the Northwest Territories, on the Slave River and adjacent to the NWT/Alberta border.-History:Fort Smith's history began because of the Slave River and the vital link...

became the official administration and transportation hub for the Northwest Territories in 1911. This marked the first services provided by the territorial government in six years. The first services included an agent from the Department of Indian Affairs, a medical doctor, and a Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

station.

Fort Smith was chosen to house the civil service because of its geographical location and state of development. The community was one of the few that had steamboat service from the railheads in Alberta and access to the vast waterways in the territory. The community was the easiest for the government to access, and the most well developed community, closest to Ottawa.

Fort Smith housed the civil service working in the Territories officially until 1967. The town continued to host the civil service for many years after Yellowknife was picked as capital, because the infrastructure was not yet in place in the new capital city at the time.

Carrothers Commission examines Self-government for the North (1965-1967)

The "Advisory Commission on the Development of Government in the Northwest Territories", commonly called the Carrothers Commission for its chair, Alfred Carrothers

Alfred Carrothers

Alfred William Rooke "Fred" Carrothers was a Canadian lawyer, arbitrator, and academic, working in the field of Law.Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, the son of W. A...

, was struck by the Government of Canada

Government of Canada

in 1965. The Carrothers Commission marked a significant turning point in modern Northwest Territories history. The Carrothers Commission was tasked to evaluate and recommend changes to the Northwest Territories to deal with an array of outstanding issues regarding self-government in the north. One of the more visible and lasting effects of the Carrothers Commission was to choose a new capital city for the territorial government.

The Carrothers Commission, for the first time, gave some voice to residents in the Northwest Territories through extensive consultations with the territorial population. In prior years, the decision to change the seat of government had always been made without consulting Northwest Territories residents. Edgar Dewdney

Edgar Dewdney

, for example, who made the decision to change the capital from Battleford to Regina, faced controversy because he owned property in Regina. After the territorial government moved to Ottawa, the government was often resented for being so far away.

The Carrothers Commission spent two years visiting nearly every community in the territory and consulting with residents, community leaders, business people, and territorial politicians. The Carrothers Commission investigated and considered five communities for the capital: Hay River

Hay River, Northwest Territories

Hay River , known as "the Hub of the North," is a town in the Northwest Territories, Canada, located on the south shore of Great Slave Lake, at the mouth of the Hay River. The town is separated into two sections, a new town and an old town with the Hay River Airport between them...

, Fort Simpson

Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories

Fort Simpson is a village in the Dehcho Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community is located on an island at the confluence of the Mackenzie and Liard Rivers...

, Fort Smith

Fort Smith, Northwest Territories

, Inuvik

Inuvik, Northwest Territories

Inuvik is a town in the Northwest Territories of Canada and is the administrative centre for the Inuvik Region.The population as of the 2006 Census was 3,484, but the two previous census counts show wide fluctuations due to economic conditions: 2,894 in 2001 and 3,296 in 1996...

and Yellowknife

Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

Yellowknife is the capital and largest city of the Northwest Territories , Canada. It is located on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, approximately south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of the Yellowknife River...

.

Many people in the Northwest Territories believed that Fort Smith would win since it already housed the Territories' civil service.

Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, current capital (1967–present)

Yellowknife

Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

officially became the capital on September 18, 1967, after the Carrothers commission chose it for its central location, transportation links, industrial base and residents' preferences.

Yellowknife, in 1967, was not yet ready to serve as home for the government. During the years that it took for the capital's infrastructure to slowly develop, most of the civil service remained in Fort Smith for many years and the governing Council continued its practice of holding legislative sessions all over the territory for a number of years.

The Northwest Territories marked a new era when the legislative council moved into a newly-constructed legislature building on November 17, 1993. The new legislature was the first building built specifically for the Northwest Territories government since the government sat in Regina 88 years earlier. The legislature building was constructed to feature themes derived from the Inuit

Inuit

culture, which signaled that the government was sensitive to the ethnicity of the resident population.

The modern day territorial government has matured in Yellowknife to become effective and responsible

Responsible government

. The government in Yellowknife had largely gained back its powers on par with the pre-1905 government that was dissolved during creation of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The civil service has been effectively consolidated into the city of Yellowknife; and has gained control over administering its own elections from Elections Canada

Elections Canada

Elections Canada is an independent, non-partisan agency reporting directly to the Parliament of Canada. Its ongoing responsibility is to ensure that Canadians can exercise their choices in federal elections and referenda through an open and impartial process...

. Education is now under the jurisdiction of the territorial government and the territory has most powers afforded to the rest of the provinces. There has even talk by the Federal government of the territories gaining provincial status in the future.

Lessons learned for Nunavut capital (1995 vote)

As chronicled above, all seven capitals throughout the history of the Northwest Territories were chosen by some form of external government decision, though the Carrothers Commission did consult with the territorial population to guide its decision.

After the selection of Yellowknife as the capital in 1967, many residents in the eastern Arctic continued to feel unrepresented by the territorial government, and many movements and groups were formed to remedy the situation. Lessons had been learned from the historical changes in the Northwest Territories' seat of power, resulting in a number of territorial democratic processes leading to the creation of the new territory of Nunavut

Nunavut

Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...

in 1999, formed from the eastern half of the Northwest Territories.

In 1976, as part of the land claims negotiations between the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami is a nonprofit organization in Canada that represents over 50,400 Inuit. It was founded in 1971 by Tagak Curley as the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada...

population and the Government of Canada, the parties discussed division of the Northwest Territories to provide a separate territory for the Inuit. In 1982, a plebiscite on division was held throughout the Northwest Territories, in which a majority of the residents voted in favour of division.

The land claims agreement was completed in September 1992 and ratified by a majority of voters. On July 9, 1993, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement

Nunavut Land Claims Agreement

The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement is a 1993 land claims agreement between the Inuit of the Nunavut Settlement Area and the Government of Canada subject to the Constitution Act of 1982...

Act and the Nunavut Act were passed by the Canadian Parliament

Parliament of Canada

The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...

.

In December, 1995, the Nunavut capital plebiscite was held, and the voters in the future Nunavut territory chose Iqaluit as their capital city, defeating Rankin Inlet by a narrow margin. Iqaluit became the official capital on April 1, 1999, when Nunavut separated from the Northwest Territories.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Fort Garry, Manitoba (1870–1876)

Fort Livingstone, Northwest Territories (1876–1877)

Battleford, Northwest Territories (1877–1883)

Regina, Northwest Territories (1883–1905)

Ottawa, Ontario as legislative capital (1905–1967)

Fort Smith, Northwest Territories as administrative capital (1911–1967)

Carrothers Commission examines Self-government for the North (1965-1967)

Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, current capital (1967–present)

Lessons learned for Nunavut capital (1995 vote)

See also

External links