Everything about Northwest Territories totally explained
The
Northwest Territories (
NWT or
NT;
French,
les Territoires du Nord-Ouest) is a
territory of
Canada.
Located in
northern Canada, it borders Canada's two other territories,
Yukon to the west and
Nunavut to the east, and three provinces:
British Columbia to the southwest,
Alberta and
Saskatchewan to the south. It has an area of and a population of 41,464 as of the
2006 census, an increase of 11.0% from 2001. Its capital has been
Yellowknife since 1967.
Geographical features include the vast
Great Bear and
Great Slave Lakes, as well as the immense
Mackenzie River and the canyons of the
Nahanni National Park Reserve, a
national park and
UNESCO World Heritage Site. Territorial
islands in the
Canadian Arctic Archipelago include
Banks Island,
Borden Island,
Prince Patrick Island, and parts of
Victoria Island and
Melville Island. The highest point is
Mount Nirvana near the border with Yukon at an elevation 2,773 metres (9,098 ft).
History
The present-day territory was created in June 1870, when the
Hudson's Bay Company transferred
Rupert's Land and
North-Western Territory to the
government of Canada. This immense region comprised all of non-confederation Canada except British Columbia, the coast of the
Great Lakes, the
Saint Lawrence River valley and the southern third of
Quebec, the
Maritimes,
Newfoundland, and the
Labrador coast. It also excluded the
Arctic Islands except the southern half of
Baffin Island; these remained under direct
British rule until 1880.
The name of the territory is traced to North-Western Territory, a region named for the geographical location relative to
Rupert's Land.
After the transfer, the territories were gradually whittled away. The province of
Manitoba was created on
15 July 1870, a tiny square around Winnipeg, and then enlarged in 1881 to a rectangular region composing the modern province's south. By the time British Columbia joined the
confederation on
20 July 1871, it had already (1866) been granted the portion of North-Western Territory south of 60 degrees north and west of 120 degrees west, an area that had comprised most of the
Stikine Territory. In 1882,
Regina in the then-District of
Assiniboia became the territorial capital; after Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905, Regina became the provincial capital of the new province of Saskatchewan.
In 1876, the
District of Keewatin, at the centre of the territory, was separated from it. In 1882 and again in 1896, the remaining portion was divided into the following districts (corresponding to the following modern-day areas):
Keewatin would be returned to NWT in 1905.
In the meantime,
Ontario was enlarged northwestward in 1882. Quebec was also extended, in 1898, and Yukon was made a separate territory in the same year to deal with the
Klondike Gold Rush, and remove the NWT government from administering the sudden boom of population, economic activity and influx of non-Canadians.
The provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were created in 1905, and Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec acquired the last of their modern territories from NWT in 1912. This left only the districts of Mackenzie, Franklin (which absorbed the remnants of Ungava in 1920), and Keewatin. In 1925, the boundaries of NWT were extended all the way to the
North Pole on the sector principle, vastly expanding its territory onto the northern
ice cap. The reduced Northwest Territories wasn't represented in the
Canadian House of Commons from 1907 until 1947 when the electoral district of
Yukon—Mackenzie River was created. This riding only included the District of Mackenzie. The rest of the Northwest Territories had no representation in the House of Commons until 1962, when the
Northwest Territories electoral district was created in recognition of the
Inuit having been given the
right to vote in 1953.
In 1912 the Government of Canada renamed the territory to Northwest Territories, dropping the
hyphenated form. Between 1925 and 1999, the Northwest Territories measured – larger than
India.
Finally, on
April 1,
1999, the eastern three-fifths of the Northwest Territories (including all of the Keewatin district and much of the Mackenzie and Franklin) became a separate territory called Nunavut.
There was some discussion of changing the name of the Northwest Territories after the separation of Nunavut, possibly to a term from an Aboriginal language. One proposal was "Denendeh" ("our land" in
Dene). The idea was advocated by former premier
Stephen Kakfwi, among others. As well, a popular radio station began to promote changing the territory's name to "Bob".
In the end, as a poll conducted prior to division showed, strong support remained for retaining the name "Northwest Territories". This name arguably became more appropriate following division than it was when the territory extended far into Canada's north
east.
In
Inuktitut, the Northwest Territories are referred to as ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᖅ (
Nunatsiaq), "beautiful land."
Government
As a territory, the Northwest Territories has fewer rights than the
provinces. During his term, Premier Kakfwi pushed to have the federal government accord more rights to the territory, including having a greater share of the returns from the territory's natural resources go to the territory. Devolution of powers to the territory was an issue in the
20th general election in 2003, and has been ever since the territory began electing members in 1881.
The
commissioner of the NWT is the chief executive and is appointed by the Governor-in-Council of Canada on the recommendation of the federal
Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. The position used to be more administrative and governmental but with the devolution of more and more powers to the elected assembly since 1967 the position has become symbolic. Since 1985 the Commissioner no longer chairs meetings of the Executive Council (or
cabinet) and the federal government has instructed commissioners to behave like a provincial
Lieutenant Governor. Unlike Lieutenant Governors, the
Commissioner of the Northwest Territories isn't a formal representative of the
Queen of Canada.
Unlike provincial governments and the Yukon, the Government of the Northwest Territories doesn't have political parties, except for the period between 1898 and 1905. It is a
consensus government called the
Legislative Assembly. This group is composed of one member elected from each of the nineteen constituencies. After each general election, the new parliament elects a premier and speaker by secret ballot. Seven MLAs are also chosen as cabinet ministers, with the remainder forming the opposition. The territory's
most recent general election was on
October 1 2007. The head of state for the territories is a Commissioner appointed by the federal government. The Commissioner had full governmental powers until 1980 when the territories were given greater self government. The legislature then began electing a cabinet and
Government Leader later known as the
Premier.
The
Premier of the Northwest Territories is
Floyd Roland. The member of Parliament for
Western Arctic, the riding that comprises the Northwest Territories, is
Dennis Bevington (
New Democratic Party). The Commissioner of the Northwest Territories is
Tony Whitford.
Economy
The territory enjoys vast geological resources including
diamonds,
gold, and
natural gas. In particular, NWT diamonds are touted as an ethical alternative that allays risks of supporting conflicts by purchasing
blood diamonds. However, their exploitation has raised environmental concerns, not least the potential havoc that a spill from tailings ponds could cause to unspoiled wilderness areas.
The vast natural resources and relatively low population give the Northwest Territories the highest per capita
GDP of all provinces or territories in Canada. In fact, its per capita GDP of
C$97,923 would rank it first in the world if it were considered as its own country, well ahead of 2nd place
Luxembourg (at approximately C$83,000 (nominal GDP)).
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Major territorial mines
Eldorado Mine - 1933-1940, 1942-1960, 1976-1982 (radium, uranium, silver, copper)
Con Mine - 1938-2003 (gold)
Negus Mine - 1939-1952 (gold)
Ptarmigan and Tom Mine - 1941-1942, 1986-1997 (gold)
Thompson-Lundmark Mine - 1941-1943, 1947-1949 (gold)
Giant Mine - 1948-2004 (gold)
Discovery Mine - 1950-1969 (gold)
Rayrock Mine - 1957-1959 (uranium)
Camlaren Mine - 1962-1963, 1980-1981 (gold)
Cantung Mine - 1962-1986, 2002-2003, 2005-current (tungsten)
Echo Bay Mines Limited - 1964-1975 (silver and copper)
Pine Point Mine - 1964-1988 (lead and zinc)
Tundra Mine - 1964-1968 (gold)
Terra Mine - 1969-1985 (silver and copper)
Salmita Mine - 1983-1987 (gold)
Colomac Mine - 1990-1992, 1994-1997 (gold)
Ekati Diamond Mine - 1998-current (diamonds)
Diavik Diamond Mine - 2003-current (diamonds)
De Beers Snap Lake Diamond Mine - 2007-current (diamonds)
Demographics
According to the 2001 Canadian census the 10 major ethnic groups were:
First Nations - 36.0%
Canadian - 19.6%
English - 16.6%
Scottish - 14.0%
Irish - 12.0%
Inuit - 11.2%
French - 10.4%
German - 8.1%
Métis - 8.0%
Ukrainian - 3.4%
Population of Northwest Territories since 1871
| Year |
Population |
five-year
% change |
ten-year
% change |
Rank among provinces
and territories |
| 1871 |
48,000 |
n/a |
n/a |
6 |
| 1881 |
56,446 |
n/a |
17.6 |
7 |
| 1891 |
98,967 |
n/a |
75.3 |
7 |
| 1901 |
20,129* |
n/a |
-79.7 |
11 |
| 1911 |
6,507** |
n/a |
-67.7 |
11 |
| 1921 |
8,143 |
n/a |
25.1 |
10 |
| 1931 |
9,316 |
n/a |
14.4 |
10 |
| 1941 |
12,028 |
n/a |
29.1 |
10 |
| 1951 |
16,004 |
n/a |
33.1 |
11 |
| 1956 |
19,313 |
20.7 |
n/a |
11 |
| 1961 |
22,998 |
19.1 |
43.7 |
11 |
| 1966 |
28,738 |
25.0 |
48.8 |
11 |
| 1971 |
34,805 |
21.1 |
51.3 |
11 |
| 1976 |
42,610 |
22.4 |
48.3 |
11 |
| 1981 |
45,740 |
7.3 |
31.4 |
11 |
| 1986 |
52,235 |
14.2 |
22.6 |
11 |
| 1991 |
57,649 |
10.3 |
26.0 |
11 |
| 1996 |
64,402 |
11.7 |
23.2 |
11 |
| 2001 |
37,360*** |
-42.0 |
-35.2 |
11 |
| 2006 |
41,464**** |
12.0 |
-35.0 |
11 |
*Note: Yukon Territory was ceded from the Northwest Territories in 1898.
**Note: Alberta and Saskatchewan were created from parts of the Northwest Territories in 1905.
***Note: Data through 1996 includes Nunavut. 2001 data doesn't include Nunavut.
****Note: 2006 census data.
Source: Statistics Canada
Language
French was made an official language in 1877 by the appointed government, after lengthy and bitter debate resulting from a speech from the Throne in 1888 by Lt. Governor Joseph Royal. The members voted on more than one occasion to nullify and make English the only language used in the assembly. After some conflict with Ottawa and a decisive vote on January 19 1892, the issue was put to rest as an English-only territory.
In the early 1980s, the government of the Northwest Territories was again under pressure by the federal government to reintroduce French as an official language. Some native members walked out of the assembly, protesting that they wouldn't be permitted to speak their own language. The executive council appointed a special committee of MLAs to study the matter. They decided that if French was to be an official language, then so must the other languages in the territories.
The Northwest Territories's Official Languages Act recognizes the following eleven official languages, which is more than any other political division in the Americas:
Culture
Aboriginal issues in the Northwest Territories include the fate of the Dene who, in the 1940s, were employed to carry radioactive uranium ore from the mines on Great Bear Lake. Their cancer rates skyrocketed due to lack of safety procedures that were available to their white colleagues.
Another issue is historic racial tension based on the bloody history between the Dene and the Inuit, who nevertheless have taken recent steps towards reconciliation.
Land claims in the NWT culminated with the creation of the Inuit homeland of Nunavut, the result of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, the largest land claim in Canadian history.
Another land claims agreement with the Dogrib nation created a region within NWT called Tli Cho, between Great Bear and Great Slave Lakes, which will give the Dogrib their own legislative bodies, taxes, resource royalties, and other affairs, though NWT will still maintain control over such areas as health and education. This area includes two of Canada's three diamond mines at Ekati and Diavik.
Further Information
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