List of premiers of the Northwest Territories

The Premier of the Northwest Territories is a title given to the head of government in the Northwest Territories of Canada when the territory is using an elected system of responsible government. Throughout its history, the territory has been governed by various combinations of locally elected governments and administrators appointed by the federal government of Canada.

Upon creation, the Northwest Territories were governed by Manitoba's Lieutenant Governor, a representative of the federal government and the Queen of Canada for the newly created province of Manitoba. Six years later in 1876, the territory was given its own Lieutenant Governor, separate from that of Manitoba.^[1] These Lieutenant Governors presided over an assembly with members both elected and appointed by the federal government. Before 1888, the territory required electoral districts with an area of 3,000 square kilometres (1,200 sq mi) to contain at least 1,000 people. When this quota was met, a by-election was held to elect a member to replace an appointed one.

The Northwest Territories held its first general elections to a territorial legislative assembly in 1888 when it considered the population to be sufficient.^[2] After this election, the Chairman of the assembly's Executive Committee (analogous to a cabinet) assumed the role of head of government.^[3] From 1898 to 1905, the chairman used the title "premier", the same title used by the heads of government in the Canadian provinces.^[4]

In 1905, the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta were created from the most populous regions of the Northwest Territories. With a much lower population, powers of the territory's head of government reverted to a federal and Crown representative appointed by the Prime Minister of Canada, this time with the title "Commissioner of Northwest Territories".^[1] Beginning in 1951, and increasingly in 1967, powers were transferred back to an elected assembly. In 1980, the head of this assembly regained the title of premier, and in 1985 the premier became chair of the Executive Council and full head of government.

Because the Northwest Territories has a consensus government, the Premier is elected by and from the members of the Legislative Assembly, and are not divided into parties.^[5] This list contains only those government leaders who governed under an elected system of responsible government. For the heads of government before and in between these times, see List of Commissioners of Northwest Territories.

Premiers of the Northwest Territories

Premier			Period	Assemblies	Elections
See List of lieutenant-governors of Northwest Territories for the heads of government before 1888.
	—	Robert Brett (Chairman of the Lt. Governor's Advisory Council)	June 30, 1888 November 7, 1891	1st (NW)	Elected June 30, 1888
	—	Frederick Haultain (Chairman of the Executive Committee)	November 7, 1891 1897	2nd (NW) 3rd (NW)	Elected November 7, 1891 Re-elected October 31, 1894
	1st	Frederick Haultain (Northwest Territories Liberal-Conservative Party)	October 7, 1897 August 24, 1905	4th (NW) 5th (NW)	Re-elected November 4, 1898 Re-elected May 21, 1902
See List of Commissioners of Northwest Territories for the heads of government between 1905 and 1980.
	2nd	George Braden[N 1]	June 16, 1980 January 12, 1984	...	Designated June 16, 1980
	3rd	Richard Nerysoo[N 1]	January 12, 1984 November 5, 1985	10th ...	Elected November 21, 1983 Resigned November 5, 1985
	4th	Nick Sibbeston[N 1]	November 5, 1985 November 12, 1987	...	Designated November 5, 1985
	5th	Dennis Patterson[N 1]	November 12, 1987 November 14, 1991	11th	Elected October 5, 1987
	6th	Nellie Cournoyea[N 1]	November 14, 1991 November 22, 1995	12th	Elected October 15, 1991
	7th	Don Morin	November 22, 1995 November 26, 1998	13th ...	Elected October 16, 1995 Resigned November 26, 1998
	Acting	Goo Arlooktoo	November 26, 1998 December 10, 1998	...	Appointed acting Premier[6]
	8th	Jim Antoine	December 10, 1998 January 17, 2000	... 14th ...	December 10, 1998 Re-elected February 15, 1999 Resigned January 17, 2000
	9th	Stephen Kakfwi	January 17, 2000 December 10, 2003	...	Designated January 17, 2000
	10th	Joe Handley	December 10, 2003 October 19, 2007	15th	Elected November 24, 2003
	11th	Floyd Roland	October 19, 2007 October 26, 2011	16th	Elected October 1, 2007
	12th	Bob McLeod	October 26, 2011 November 23, 2015	17th	Elected October 3, 2011
	13th	Bob McLeod	December 16, 2015 present	18th	Re-Elected November 23, 2015

Living former premiers

As of December 2015, nine former premiers are alive, the oldest being Nellie Cournoyea (1991–1995, born 1940).

Name	Term	Date of birth
Richard Nerysoo	1984–1985	1953 (age 62–63)[7]
Nick Sibbeston	1985–1987	November 21, 1943[8]
Dennis Patterson	1987–1991	December 30, 1948[9]
Nellie Cournoyea	1991–1995	March 4, 1940[10]
Don Morin	1995–1998	1954 (age 61–62)[11]
Jim Antoine	1998–2000	1949 (age 66–67)[12]
Stephen Kakfwi	2000–2003	1950 (age 65–66)[13]
Joe Handley	2003–2007	August 9, 1943[14]
Floyd Roland	2007–2011	November 23, 1961[15]

See also

• List of Northwest Territories general elections
• Commissioners of the Northwest Territories
• List of lieutenant governors of the Northwest Territories

Notes

1. Before 1994, the position was officially known as Government Leader; however, the territory has retroactively applied the title of Premier.

References

General

• "Territories" (PDF). Government of Saskatchewan. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2007. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
• "The Office of the Lieutenant Governor". Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Retrieved November 10, 2008.

Specific

1. "The Northwest Territories". Library and Archives Canada. May 2, 2005. Archived from the original on June 21, 2008. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
2. Thomas, Lewis Herbert (1978). The Struggle for Responsible Government in the North-West Territories, 1870-97. University of Toronto Press. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-8020-2287-5.
3. "The Honourable Dr. Robert G. Brett, 1915-25". Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
4. "The North-West Territories (1870–1905)" (PDF). Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
5. "Election of the Speaker, Premier, and Ministers". Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
6. "New premier on horizon". NNSL. November 30, 1998.
7. Guide Parlementaire Canadien Richard Nerysoo
8. Biography
9. Dennis Glen Patterson - Conservative Party of Canada
10. Nellie J. Cournoyea at Collections Canada
11. Profile of a leader
12. Janine Edklund (April 1, 1999). "Premier Jim Antoine lives in interesting times.". Lethbridge Herald. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
13. Stephen Kakfwi Archived June 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. - The Canadian Encyclopedia (accessed 2014-04-20).
14. CIM Bulletin, Volume 94
15. The Canadian Parliamentary Guide Floyd Roland

External links

• Premier of the Northwest Territories