List of Northwest Territories Legislative Assemblies

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This is a list of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assemblies dates and legislative sessions from 1870–present. The current capital is Yellowknife since 1967. There have been twenty-eight legislatures since becoming a territory in 1870.

Assembly Duration General Election Elected members Appointed members Notes
Temporary North-West Council
1870 – 1876 up to 18 Vacant until 28 December 1872. Council was legally required to have between 7 and 15 appointed members. Its initial sitting had 11 members and at times had up to 18.
1st Council of the Northwest Territories
9 sessions
1876 – 1888 14 6 Elected members won their seats in scattered by-elections and the 1885 elections. Elected members were from eight single-member ridings and three two-member ridings. Not all of the Territory was represented; elections were centred on the most populated areas.
1st North-West Legislative Assembly
3 sessions
1888

10 October 1891
1888 election 22 3 Six members were elected in two-member ridings and 16 in single-member ridings, but they did not cover the entire Territory. This Assembly also had three judges appointed as members to be legal experts.
2nd North-West Legislative Assembly
5 sessions
1891

1 October 1894
1891 election 26 Two members were elected in a two-member riding and the rest in single-member ridings, but they did not cover the entire Territory.
3rd North-West Legislative Assembly
4 sessions
1894

13 October 1898
1894 election 29 All members were elected in single-member ridings, but they did not cover the entire Territory.
4th North-West Legislative Assembly
4 sessions
1898

26 April 1902
1898 election 31 All members were elected in single-member ridings, but they did not cover the entire Territory. This was one of only two assemblies to use political parties.
5th North-West Legislative Assembly
3 sessions
1902

31 August 1905
1902 election 35 All members were elected in single-member ridings, but they did not cover the entire Territory. This was one of only two assemblies to use political parties.
2nd Council of the Northwest Territories
1905 – 1951 up to 6 No council was appointed until 1921, but provisions existed in law for four council seats. The Northwest Territories was instead run by the Department of Mines and Resources Canada and no legislation under territorial jurisdiction was passed or updated in this period. Between 1921 and 1951 a council existed in Ottawa with up to six seats, including the Director of Mines and Resources. No resident of the Territory was appointed to the council until 1947.
1st Northwest Territories Legislative Council
1951 – 1954 1951 election 3 5 All three elected members were from District of Mackenzie.
2nd Northwest Territories Legislative Council
1954 – 1957 1954 election 4 5 Elected members were from four ridings all in the District of Mackenzie.
3rd Northwest Territories Legislative Council
1957 – 1961 1957 election 4 5 Elected members were from four ridings all in the District of Mackenzie.
4th Northwest Territories Legislative Council
1961 – 1964 1960 election 4 5 Elected members were from four ridings all in the District of Mackenzie.
5th Northwest Territories Legislative Council
1964 – 1967 1964 election 4 5 Elected members were from four ridings all in the District of Mackenzie.
6th Northwest Territories Legislative Council
1967 – 1970 1967 election 7 5 From this point on, every region in the Territory was part of a riding and every riding elected one representative.
7th Northwest Territories Legislative Council
1970 – 1975 1970 election 10 4
8th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly
1975 – 1979 1975 election 15
9th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly
1979 – 1983 1979 election 22
10th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly
1983 – 1987 1983 election 24
11th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly
1987 – 1991 1987 election 24
12th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly
1991 – 1995 1991 election 24
13th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly
1995 – 1999 1995 election 24
14th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly
6 sessions
1999 – 2003 1999 election 19 This was the first election after Nunavut split from the Territory.
15th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly
6 sessions
2003 – 2007 2003 election 19
16th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly
6 sessions
2007 – 2011 2007 election 19
17th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly
5 sessions
2011 – 2015 2011 election 19
18th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly
3 sessions
2015 – 2019 2015 election 19
19th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly
2 sessions
2019 – 2023 2019 election 19
20th Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly
1 session
2023 – present 2023 election 19

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ No members sat in Council between 1870 - 1872 and 1905 - 1921.
  2. ^ Provisions existed for appointment from seven to fifteen members of the council in the Temporary Government of Rupert's Land Act.

References[edit]