Northwest Territories

For other geographical names that use the term "Northwest," see Northwest.

The Northwest Territories (NWT; French, les Territoires du Nord-Ouest) is a territory of Canada.

Located in northern Canada, it is east of Yukon, west and south of Nunavut (Canada's two other territories), and north of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. It has an area of 1,171,918 square kilometres and a population of 42,944 as of January 1, 2005. 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 River, a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Territorial islands in the Arctic Archipelago include Banks Island, Parry Peninsula, Prince Patrick Island, and parts of Victoria Island and Melville Island. The highest point is Mount Nirvana near the border with Yukon at elevation 2773 m (9098 ft).

10 Largest Municipalities by population
Municipality	2001	1996
Yellowknife	16,541	17,275
Hay River	3,510	3,611
Inuvik	2,894	3,296
Fort Smith	2,185	2,441
Behchoko	1,552	1,662
Fort Simpson	1,163	1,257
Tuktoyaktuk	930	943
Fort McPherson	761	878
Fort Providence	753	748
Norman Wells	666	798

Official languages

The territory's Official Languages Act recognizes eight official languages, more than any other political division in Canada:

NWT residents have a right to use any of the above languages:

when receiving services from the government;
in court;
in debates and proceedings of the legislature.

History of official languages

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 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 would not 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.

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 modern 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 square region composing the modern province's south. By the time British Columbia joined 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. 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):

Alberta (southern Alberta);
Assiniboia (southern Saskatchewan);
Athabaska (northern Alberta and Saskatchewan);
Franklin (the Arctic islands and Boothia and Melville Peninsulas);
Mackenzie (mainland NWT and western Nunavut);
Saskatchewan (central Saskatchewan);
Ungava (modern-day northern Quebec and inland Labrador, as well as an offshore area in Hudson Bay);
Yukon (modern Yukon Territory).

Keewatin would be returned to NWT in 1905.

See also: Districts of Northwest Territories

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 was not 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 repesentation in the House of Commons until the early 1960s when the Northwest Territories electoral district was created in recognition of 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, Northwest Territories measured 3 439 296 km² – larger than India.

Finally, on April 1, 1999, the eastern three-fifths of Northwest Territories (including all of Keewatin district and much of Mackenzie and Franklin) became a separate territory called Nunavut.

There was some discussion of changing the name of 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. Also, a popular radio station began to promote changing the territory's name to "Bob". This idea appeared to have some popular support, but was never taken seriously by politicians (or probably even those who claimed to support it). 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 northeast. [http://imprint.uwaterloo.ca/issues/112699/4Features/Features2.shtml In Inuktitut, Northwest Territories are referred to as ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᖅ (Nunatsiaq), "beautiful land."

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 such as the Nahanni National Park Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The vast natural resources and relatively low population give Northwest Territorities the highest per capita GDP of all provinces or territorites in Canada. In fact, its per capita GDP of C$94,953 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)).

Major Territorial Mines

Con Mine - 1938-2003 (gold)
Giant Mine - 1948-2004 (gold)
Ptarmigan and Tom Mine - 1941-1942, 1986-1997 (gold)
Negus Mine - 1939-1952 (gold)
Thompson-Lundmark Mine - 1941-1943, 1947-1949 (gold)
Discovery Mine - 1950-1969 (gold)
Camlaren Mine - 1962-1963, 1980-1981 (gold)
Eldorado Mine - 1933-1940, 1942-1960, 1976-1982 (radium, uranium, silver, copper)
Echo Bay Mine - 1964-1975 (silver and copper)
Ekati Diamond Mine - 1998-current (diamonds)
Diavik Diamond Mine - 2003-current (diamonds)
Pine Point Mine - 1964-1988 (lead and zinc)
Cantung Mine - 1962-1986, 2002-2003, 2005-current (tungsten)
Rayrock Mine - 1957-1959 (uranium)
Terra Mine - 1969-1985 (silver and copper)
Tundra Mine - 1964-1968 (gold)
Salmita Mine - 1983-1987 (gold)
Colomac Mine - 1990-1992, 1994-1997 (gold)

Politics

As a territory, Northwest Territories has fewer rights than the provinces do. 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 NWT is the chief executive and is appointed by 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 is not a formal representative of the Queen of Canada.

Unlike provincial governments, the Government of Northwest Territories does not 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 November 24, 2003. 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 Northwest Territories is Joe Handley. The member of Parliament for Western Arctic, the riding that comprises Northwest Territories, is Dennis Bevington. The Commissioner of Northwest Territories is Tony Whitford.

Demographics

Population of Northwest Territories since 1871

Year	Population	Five Year % change	Ten Year % change	Rank Among Provinces
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

*Note: Yukon territory was ceded from Northwest Territories in 1898.

**Note: Alberta and Saskatchewan were created from parts of Northwest Territories in 1905.

***Note: Data through 1996 includes Nunavut. 2001 data does not include Nunavut.

Source: Statistics Canada ^*

Aboriginal issues

Aboriginal issues in 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 NWT culminated with the creation of the Inuit homeland of Nunavut, the result of 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 the only diamond mines in Canada.

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