Peter Usher was born in Montreal on 18 December 1941. He studied geography at McGill University (B.A. 1962, M.A. 1965). He completed his doctoral research on the trapping economy of Banks Island NWT at the University of British Columbia in 1970.
Usher lived and worked in the Western Arctic between 1962 and 1976. He was employed on the Area Economic Survey program for the Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources (1962-65), and then as research officer at the Northern Science Research Group (Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development) in Ottawa (1967 to 1973). He was then worked on the Inuit Land Use and Occupancy Project in support of the Inuvialuit land claim, for Inuit Tapiirit Kanatami (1973-74), and as director of the Committee for Original People’s Entitlement’s intervention at the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry (1974-77). He established P.J. Usher Consulting Services in 1977, an independent consultancy based in Ottawa with a broad client base across the north, mostly in Labrador, Nunavut, the NWT, Yukon, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario. He provided expert documentation, advice, and testimony on the impact of industrial development and environmental contaminants on Indigenous communities, and on Indigenous land and damage claims. He was from time to time a visiting lecturer in geography at several Canadian universities.
From 1991 to 1995, he was Director of Research at Inuit Tapiirit Kanatami in Ottawa. In 1997, he was appointed by Canada as a member of the Joint Environmental Assessment Panel to review the Voisey’s Bay Mine-Mill Project in Labrador (1997-99), and by the NWT as chair of the Wildlife Management Advisory Council (1997-2000). In 2004 he was appointed by Canada as a member of the Joint Review Panel for the Mackenzie Gas Project (2004-10)
The Task Force on Aboriginal Languages was established in 1985 for gathering public input on the long-term development, preservation and enhancement of aboriginal languages. The Task Force was comprised of a three-member Dene language and three-member Inuit/Inuvialuit group, with respective chairpersons. The Task Force members traveled to many communities where public meetings and consultations were held. Communities where formal public hearings were conducted included: Yellowknife, Fort Rae , Rae Lakes, Deline (Fort Franklin), Lutselk'e (Snowdrift), Fort Resolution, Inuvik and Fort Smith. Comments were also obtained from many government departments and meetings were held with officials from key departments. The Task Force also held a number of internal workshops and meetings to discuss their findings and to develop their recommendations. The recommendations were presented to the Legislative Assembly in March of 1986 in the form of a formal report.
The Financial Management Secretariat is the central agency responsible for providing advice and support services on the financial management and administration of the government to the Financial Management Board. The Financial Management Board, with the approval of the Commissioner, acts on all matters relating to the financial management and administration of the Northwest Territories. Key responsibility areas include development of the main estimates, five-year program forecasting, supplementary appropriations and quarterly variance reports, negotiations with the federal government for territorial funding and provision of administrative and working support to the Board. The Secretariat is also involved in preparing material and participating in Federal/Territorial financial negotiations. The Secretariat is responsible for planning, coordinating and the consolidation of the operating budget of the Government of the Northwest Territories, including the preparation of Main and Supplementary Estimates.
The Secretary, who is the senior financial officer of the Government, heads the Secretariat Division of the Financial Management Board. Day-to-day management of the Secretariat is the responsibility of the Deputy Secretary. The program's budget and analysis section is responsible for providing senior level budget management and counsel to the Government of the Northwest Territories, primarily focusing on the budget cycle. The capital planning section is responsible for providing senior level budget management and counsel to the Government, primarily focusing on the capital planning process; the financial planning and analysis section is responsible for providing senior level financial management and advice to the Government of the Northwest Territories.
Between 1989-1990, the Financial Management Board Secretariat joined the Department of Finance and then moved to the Department of the Executive in 1994-1995. In 2009-2010 the Secretariat became part of the Department of Finance.
In 1973, the Department of Industry and Development was renamed the Department of Economic Development and was restructured to respond more effectively to the traditional and modern economies of the Northwest Territories.
The Department of Economic Development was responsible for promoting and developing economic growth in the Northwest Territories. In addition, the department was responsible for establishing employment opportunities for all Northern residents and assisting the Indigenous people to participate in and benefit equally from the increased scale of economic activity throughout the Northwest Territories. The department encouraged and provided for the development of the tourism industry at the local level through grant programs aimed at communities that would assist them in realizing the economic benefits of tourism. It also provided training in management and hospitality, developed public tourism facilities and promoted traveling in the north through advertising and other promotional material. The Department of Economic Development was also involved in the promotion of commercial and industrial development by encouraging the establishment of primary and secondary industries that would provide economic benefit to northern residents. Furthermore, the department participated with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs in planning for the exploration and development of non-renewable resources for the benefit of residents of the Northwest Territories.
The Tourism Division consisted of the Development and Promotion sections. The Development section was involved in the expansion and control of the tourism plant and services. It developed and regulated public tourist facilities and encouraged remote Indigenous community involvement in the tourism industry by providing training and grant programs that assisted in the construction of tourist accommodations or renovations to existing facilities. The Promotion section promoted visitor travel to and within the Northwest Territories through advertising, publicity, trade shows and provision of travel counseling services.
The Industry and Commerce Division was made up of five sections; the Business Development section was responsible for identifying economic opportunities throughout the Northwest Territories and for conducting feasibility studies with regard to such opportunities and the encouragement of investment to take advantage of these opportunities. The Financial Assistance section processed and reviewed applications for loans from loan funds administered by the department. This included the Small Business Loan Fund, the Eskimo Loan Fund, and the Fisherman's Loan Fund and in collaboration with the Federal Department of Indian and Northern Affairs-the Indian Development Fund. The Project Operations section provided financial control and management monitoring and supervision to the range of productive enterprises for which the department was responsible, including the sale of finished products. The Co-operative section assisted in the development of co-operatives, regulated and monitored the operation of co-operatives and provided advisory support to individual co-operatives and to the Canadian Arctic Co-operative Federation. The Arts and Crafts section provided support and information to artists and artisans in how to do business with dealers and collectors inside and outside the Northwest Territories.
The Game Management Division was made up of five sections. The Trapline Management section planned, developed and implemented educational and management programs and projects designed to maximize the utilization of the fur resource and to increase the economic return to the trapper. The Big Game Management section planned and implemented programs that properly managed and utilized the big game resources and protected these resources. The Research section planned, developed and implemented a research program in support of trapline and big game management and conducted studies on endangered animal and game species. The Regulations section developed and enforced game laws and regulations and the Fishery Development section assisted in the development of a strong sport and commercial fishing industry that would benefit northern residents. In 1975, the Game Management Division was transferred to the Division of Natural and Cultural Affairs.
The Petroleum Resource Development Project was moved from the Executive Secretariat to the Department of Economic Development in 1975. This project group provided a coordination and liaison service to the departments of the Government of the Northwest Territories on matters relating to the Mackenzie Valley Gas Pipeline proposal, the Mackenzie Highway and the Beaufort Delta Oil Project. The Project Group also had overall management responsibility for the Hire North Project. This project was established to provide training and employment opportunities on the Mackenzie Highway construction project, for the indigenous people of the area.
The Employment Division transferred from the Department of Local Government to the Department of Economic Development in 1975. This division was responsible for determining needs, developing strategies and administering programs directed at increasing employment levels and employability of Northern residents. This division provided an employment and training placement service, offered advice on program needs and created strategies to overcome employment problems of Northerners. Furthermore, the division developed, coordinated and administered programs, operated employment counselling services throughout the Northwest Territories and developed and administered programs designed to solve short or long term unemployment problems at the community level. This division delivered the Apprenticeship program, which delivered programs for developing skilled tradesmen. In addition, the Territorial Employment Record and Information System (TERIS) was also administered by this division. This system developed a manpower and skills inventory for the Northwest Territories labour force which was utilized as a vehicle between labour supply and labour demand by ensuring employment opportunities be made available to potential northern candidates.
In 1976, the Tourism Division and some sections of the Industry and Commerce Division combined services and formed the Business Services and Tourism Division. The Financial Assistance sector provided assistance through the Small Business Loan Fund and Eskimo Loan Fund and provided counselling for applicants seeking loans. The Co-op Development section provided general business counselling to new or developing businesses and regulated and monitored the operation of co-operatives and provided advisory services to co-operatives and to the Canadian Arctic Co-operative Federation. This division also promoted travel in the Northwest Territories through promotional trade shows and advertising and also developed tourist facilities and maintained parks in the Northwest Territories.
The Project and Marketing Division also emerged at this time and was responsible for the planning, development and overall management of the department's commercial, industrial and crafts projects, as well as for the marketing activity. The Arts and Crafts program provided development, planning and counselling services to Inuit and Aboriginal artists and artisans and published information about northern arts and crafts to dealers and collectors within and outside the Northwest Territories. The program also focussed on training local people to assume a managerial role in craft operations. The Marketing program worked with the Arts and Crafts activity to assist in the marketing of finished products and to exhibit northern arts and crafts and trade shows, events and through catalogues.
The Research and Evaluation Division was responsible for providing economic research services within the government and to other organizations and individuals in the private sector. This division researched and planned new economic development projects and promoted the development of resident businesses. In addition, this activity prepared economic statistics, conducted economic analysis of existing and proposed projects and provided technical information on non-renewable resources development.
In 1977, the Department of Economic Development was renamed the Department of Economic Development and Tourism.
The Great Bear Lake Co-operative Association was the first co-operative in the Northwest Territories. Co-operatives now operate in many communities in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The Great Bear Lake Co-operative Association's Secretary-Treasurer and/or Manager from 1963-1966, Rene Fumoleau (OMI-retired), is a well-known author, photographer and voice of support for aboriginal issues.
In 1991, a group known as the Committee of Political Leaders was involved in setting the terms of reference for the Commission for Constitutional Development (Bourque Commission), which presented its report in April 1992. In February 1993, the Committee of Political Leaders and the Western Caucus of the Legislative Assembly met and decided to expand the original Committee, creating the Constitutional Development Steering Committee.
Membership included the 14 members of the Western Caucus of the Legislative Assembly, three members from the Association of Western Tax-based Municipalities, and one representative each from the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, Gwich’in Tribal Council, Sahtu Tribal Council, Metis Nation NWT, Dogrib Treaty 11 Council, women’s organizations (NWT Native Women’s Association and NWT Status of Women’s Council), and later, the South Slave Metis Tribal Council. The Deh Cho Tribal Council and Treaty 8 Tribal Council had the option to be involved as members but withdrew in favour of pursing their own processes.
The Constitutional Development Steering Committee Management Society was incorporated in May 1994. The Society was created to implement the decisions of the Constitutional Development Steering Committee and coordinate financial affairs, research, and public activities.
The Management Society was composed of members of the CDSC, including the chairperson, first vice-chairperson, and second vice-chairperson, who would function as the President, Vice-President, and Secretary/Treasurer of the Management Society. The Bylaws of the Management Society also provided for a staff Secretariat headed by an Executive Director. Steve Iveson was the first Executive Director, followed by Charles McGee, Sharon Hall, and Fred Koe.
The CDSC operated independently of the government. Its aim was to work towards establishing a constitution and government structure for the western territory left after Nunavut was created in the east. Funding was sought from the federal and territorial governments. Small amounts received in 1993 allowed the CDSC member groups to produce a set of research reports outlining their ideas on constitutional reform. In 1994, with additional funding from the Government of the Northwest Territories and the federal government, the Constitutional Development Steering Committee organized community information meetings to prepare for the “First Constitutional Conference,” which took place in January 1995. The Conference brought together people from all 34 western Northwest Territories communities to discuss their ideas, discover areas of common ground, explore differences of opinion and identify where there was more work to accomplish. The Conference produced a twenty-two point emerging consensus that confirmed many of the principles and recommendations of the Iqaluit Agreement and the Bourque Commission. The Conference stressed the importance of proceeding with constitutional development and self-government as a parallel process.
With little additional funding available through 1995, the CDSC assembled summary reports of work completed and cooperated with the Aboriginal Summit. The activities of the CDSC concluded in early 1996.
Roy Jack Quinstrom was born in 1912 in Quesnel, British Columbia. The Quinstrom family had come to Canada from Sweden. People of the Quesnel area could not pronounce the family's Swedish name (unknown) so they took the name Quinstrom. Roy believed they were the only people in the world to have that name. After receiving his education at Trail, British Columbia, Roy went to Moscow, Idaho to study Mining Engineering and Metallurgy. His first job was at Goldfields, Saskatchewan. On his return to Trail he was hired by Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company Ltd. and moved to Yellowknife, living there in 1937 and 1938. Roy helped pour the first gold brick produced in Yellowknife in [1938?]. In 1938, Roy married Lillian Cookson eventually settling again in Kimberley, British Columbia in 1940. In 1944, Roy and Lillian moved to San Luis Potosi, Mexico and started an assay business, eventually retiring in Mexico. Roy Quinstrom died in 1995.
The Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) was established under the Workers' Compensation Ordinance in 1977. The Worker's Compensation Act ultimately replaced the Ordinance in the mid-1980s. The purpose of the Worker's Compensation Act is to provide a method of compensating workers for wage losses due to accidents occurring during the course of employment. The Act places the adjudication of claims in the hands of the Workers' Compensation Board instead of the courts and makes the employer's liability collective instead of individual.
The Board operates with funds raised through assessments levied on employers in the Northwest Territories on the basis of a percentage of the payrolls in order to meet all claims payable during the year, including administrative costs. The assessments are also used to provide for payment of liabilities in respect of future compensation or accidents, which have or may occur and to establish reserves for employers. The WCB does not receive any funding through annual appropriation approved by the Legislative Assembly. This results in a more autonomous operation than would otherwise exist, with internal financial decisions being make by the Workers' Compensation Board. Annually the WCB submits its proposal for the Year's Maximum Assessable Remuneration (YMAR) to the Legislative Assembly for approval. The YMAR determines the upper limits upon which employers' assessments and claimants' benefits are based. Rates are adjusted as required by the WCB. These funds are used to provide compensation to workers who are injured on the job or who contract an occupational disease.
The Workers Compensation Board is unique among the Boards and Agencies created by territorial legislation. It has exclusive jurisdiction in all matters affecting compensation for workers injured on the job. Compensation includes the payment of medical expenses and the provision of medical and vocational rehabilitation. It also includes payment for loss of wages resulting from injury or occupational disease, pensions for workers who suffer permanent disability and pensions for dependents of workers killed in accidents. The Workers' Compensation Board is appointed by the Legislative Assembly and reports to the Legislative Assembly through the Minister responsible for the Workers' Compensation Board. In addition to a Chairman, there are a fluctuating number of Board members. The management and staff of the WCB have the responsibility for providing a service to those involved in work related injuries and to employers. Their responsibilities include: adjudication of claims, administration of pensions, arrangement of rehabilitation programs, determination of and collection of insurance premiums from employers and management of the financial resources to assure that future costs related to past claims are fully funded.
From its inception the Workers' Compensation Board has undergone a series of legislative and operational reviews, which has resulted in amendments to its legislation and changes in policy. A Task Force was established in 1981 to study the operations of the WCB, the future developments of workers' compensation in the Northwest Territories and review how workers' compensation was practiced in other jurisdictions. A report was submitted and recommendations were made which facilitated changes to the Worker's Compensation Ordinance. A merit rebate plan, which was a type of assessment rebate program for employers, was also established at this time. The program was designed to encourage safety and reduce injury costs.
In 1983, the Board expanded its safety incentive program that provided dividends to employers with good safety records and levied additional assessments on employers with poor safety records. The Board also worked with St. John Ambulance in order to provide first aid training to workers, particularly workers in high-risk occupations such as construction and resource related industry. In 1984, the Board introduced a public information program to advise all registered hunters and trappers in the Northwest Territories that they were eligible for WCB coverage. Literature was sent to all communities and personal visits were made to some of the settlements in the Keewatin, Kitikmeot and Baffin regions. In 1986, a review committee was appointed to recommend changes to the Workers' Compensation Act (formerly the Workers' Compensation Ordinance) and these changes, which were approved by the Legislative Assembly, came into affect on January 1st, 1987. The Year's Maximum Insurable Remuneration (YMIR) was increased at this time and the basis for calculating disability benefits also increased. The increased YMIR was intended to ensure that eight out of ten workers in the Northwest Territories would have their full earnings covered for compensation during 1987. Dependents of workers killed in accidents after January 1, would also receive improved benefits as a result of the YMIR increase. Due to the high cost of administering workers' compensation in the Northwest Territories, the Board also commissioned a national firm of consultants to do a review of the systems and procedures and recommend changes in order to reduce costs. In addition, the report of a committee appointed to review the Workers' Compensation Act was tabled in the Legislative Assembly. Some of the committee's recommendations had already been dealt with, such as the provision of covering registered hunters and trappers, however, the revised Workers' Compensation Act was expected to come into force in 1988.
In 1989, a ministerial review panel was appointed to carry out a review of the Board's operation and responsibilities. The panel's report which was released in April 1989 contained a list of recommendations such as development of new terms of reference for all committees; in-depth actuarial and investment reviews; development of a new strategic plan; expansion of the rehabilitation program; review and updating of Board policies; appointment of four commissioners to the claim review committee; establishment of a Workers' advisor position; rewriting the Worker's Compensation Act; establishment of a new rate setting process and preparation of a Board of Directors Manual.
On April 1, 2008, both the NWT Workers’ Compensation Act and Nunavut Workers’ Compensation Act changed to create the amalgamated Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Josephine Castonguay was born in 1879 in a small rural community on Quebec's South Shore in the Kamouraska region, Sainte-Helene. She attended convent school, l'Academie des soeurs du Bon-Pasteur, in Riviere-du-Loup, then know as Fraserville. She became a teacher and spent nearly two decades in Canada's North teaching. She ventured to the North in approximately 1920 and left in the late 1930s. After leaving the North, she moved to Ottawa and then worked in Quebec City for the government until her retirement when she moved back to her hometown. Josephine Castonguay died on December 30, 1966 at the age of 87.
F.A. (Frank) McCall was born in Edmonton, Alberta on June 7, 1920. He attended public school in Edmonton and high school at Alberta College, where his father was principal. McCall began working at the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company Ltd. (Con Mine) in Yellowknife between 1940-41, before enlisting in the military in 1941. In 1945, Frank McCall married Grace Howells in Banff, Alberta, upon his return from service with the RCAF in Britain. The couple had one daughter, Keltie, and two sons, Laurents and Owen. Returning to the North to work for the Federal Government, McCall held the position of game warden for Fort Chipewyan, Alberta and Wood Buffalo National Park. Frank McCall became Chief Game Warden at Aklavik (1948-1952), Chief Warden and Administrator at Fort Smith (1953-1957), Regional Administrator (including Mining Recorder and Land Agent) at Yellowknife (1957-1961), and Mining Recorder and Land Agent at Whitehorse (1961-1965). In 1966, Frank McCall took a position with the Federal Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in Ottawa. The McCall family then returned to Yellowknife in 1967, where Frank McCall held the Regional Administrator position until 1970. Frank McCall moved to Ottawa in 1971 and continued to work for the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development until his retirement in 1977.
Dr. Otto Schaefer was born on October 2, 1919 in Betzdorf, Germany. He graduated from high school in 1938 with the intention of studying medicine; however in September 1939 he was drafted into the German Army and served as medical personnel at the front in France and in Russia. During the war he was able to pass his medical and surgical examinations and in the fall of 1944 he functioned as a field medical officer until April 1945 when he became a prisoner of war until July 1945. After the war, he practiced medicine in Betzdorf and resumed post-graduate studies in 1946 where he worked in several different hospitals in Germany obtaining his internal medicine specialist degree in 1950. He immigrated to Canada in June 1951 with the aim of assisting with the healthcare of the aboriginal people in the Canadian North. Before being able to practice medicine in Canada, he had to pass basic science examinations and in the fall of 1951 he moved to Edmonton where he worked at the Charles Camsell Hospital. In July 1952, Dr. Schaefer's wife joined him in Edmonton and the couple moved to Aklavik in January 1953 where she assisted him in the laboratory and accompanied him during the Eastern Arctic Patrol aboard the "C.D. Howe" between 1955-1957. Dr. Schaefer worked for two years in both the Western Arctic, Eastern Arctic and the Yukon and after further post-graduate work at the Camsell and University Hospitals in Edmonton he passed specialist examinations and became a Fellow of the Canadian and American Societies of Internal Medicine. In 1964, he became the Director of the newly created Northern Medical Research Unit. He also spent several months each year in the late 1960s and early 1970s conducting community health and nutrition surveys in the NWT and visited many communities as a member of the Water Board and Science Advisory Board. Dr. Schaefer has received several awards and honors for his work in the North and in the field of internal medicine, including the Jack Hildes Medal and Award in 1987 (Canadian Society for Circumpolar Health and the Donner Foundation); Order of Canada (1976); and the Commissioner's Award for Public Service at the Highest Level GNWT, 1985); and Centenary Medal and Award for Northern Science of Canada (1985). Dr. Schaefer currently resides in Edmonton, Alberta.
The Gruben family of Tuktoyaktuk have lived, hunted and trapped in that area for generations. Frequent trips to Mary Sachs, near Sachs Harbour on Banks Island, were made by the family, usually aboard the North Star. The family hunted polar bear, fox and other animals on Banks Island, then returned to the Mackenzie Delta to trade. John William Rubin[sic] and Mary (Mercy) Talegomik wed May 1, 1914. Mary was the daughter of Nalrakbaaluk, born in 1865, and Ananaq. John and Mary Gruben's children are Emma, Helen, Charlie, Willie and Eddie. Emma's son is Charles Gruben (Angun). Helen's daughter was Nellie Gruben. Charlie Gruben married Persis and had two daughters, Sarah and Agnes. Eddie Gruben married Alice Cockney, daughter of Nuligak, who had a daughter, Millie. Many other family members continue to reside in Tuktoyaktuk.
Father Felicien (Felix) Labat OMI was born May 25, 1928 to Angele (nee Kerautret) and Jean-Pierre Labat near Leon, in the Brittany region of France. He had one brother, Derrien, and three sisters: Catherine, two Marguerites and Louise. He came to the Northwest Territories in 1953, being posted to Deline in 1954-1961 and Tulita in 1961-1966. Other communities Father Labat was stationed at included Fort Smith, Norman Wells (as pastor), Fort Good Hope, and Hay River. His final position was as Chaplain at the Stanton Regional Hospital, Yellowknife. After 57 years as a missionary in the NWT, Father Labat retired to Foyer Lacombe in St. Albert, Alberta. He died April 12, 2018 at the age of 89.
In 1978 the Canadian Association of Smelter and Allied Workers (CASAW) signed the majority of Yellowknife gold miners into their membership.
Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority (YHSSA) was created in 1997, partially from the disbandment of the Mackenzie Regional Health Services. The scope of the authority has expanded since its creation and includes responsibility for the delivery of services to Dettah, Fort Resolution, Lutsel K'e, Ndilo and Yellowknife. YHSSA is responsible for the deilvery of a full range of health and social services programs. It works cooperatively with the other regional health authorities across the Northwest Territories. It maintains a close working relationship with Stanton Territorial Health Authority and the Dept. of Health and Social Services.
The operations of the YHSSA are overseen by a Board of Directors. Members of the Board are appointed by the Minister of Health and Social Services. The day-to-day operations are managed by a Chief Executive Officer.
In August 2016 health and social services authorities across the territory were unified under the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority (NTHSS), and the YHSSA was renamed the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority, Yellowknife Region (NTHSSA-YK).
Charles LaBine was born in 1888 at Westmeath, a small community in the Ottawa Valley near Pembroke, Ontario. Charles was the elder brother of Gilbert LaBine. After working for several years in the silver mines of northern Ontario, Charles and Gilbert LaBine began prospecting for themselves. They founded Eldorado Gold Mines Ltd. in the 1920s following the discovery of gold in Manitoba. Charles LaBine was responsible for managing the financial aspects of the mining operation. Though Eldorado Gold didn’t succeed as hoped, it provided the LaBine brothers with the finances needed mto conduct further prospecting activities.
Investigating the mining potential around Great Bear Lake that had been documented by James McIntosh Bell of the Geological Survey of Canada, the LaBine brothers began prospecting along the shores of Great Bear Lake. In the spring of 1930, Gilbert LaBine discovered a deposit of pitchblende, another name for uranium ore. The discovery was made on the shore of Echo Bay. The development of a viable mining operation faced significant financing and logistical challenges, as the mine was more than 2000 km from the nearest railway. Although Charles was not with Gilbert when the pitchblende was found, it was his job to follow up and solve the financing and logistical problems of moving equipment to the mine site and the ore south for processing. In order to finance the development, the LaBines mined the silver that lay in the same area of Great Bear Lake.
The operation began as a radium mine in 1932, extracting radium from pitchblende. Mined materials were shipped by barge and air plane to Fort McMurray, Alberta, then by train to a radium refinery in Port Hope, Ontario. The company secured a contract with the United States military early in 1942. The Eldorado Mine at Port Radium was transferred to the Canadian Government in 1944 and renamed Eldorado Mining and Refining Limited. Uranium ore from the mine was used in the atomic bomb developments of 1945.
In the 1950s, uranium was discovered along the shores of Lake Athabasca. There the Labine brothers founded Gunnar Mines, the first Canadian producer of uranium that returned a profit to its shareholders. Gilbert was president and Charles the vice-president of Gunnar. Charles retired from the management in 1955.
The contribution of the LaBine brothers to the advancement of medical science as a result of their work was recognized at home and abroad. The brothers received the Curie medal from the governing body of the International Union Against Cancer. The citation accompanying the medal to Charles LaBine said that the Pierre and Marie Curie medal, which had been struck in 1938 on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the discovery of radium, was conferred upon him “for the distinguished services that you have rendered to science and to humanity.” Charles LaBine died in 1969 at the age of 81.
Mark Murray de Weerdt was born in Cologne, Germany in 1928, but was a Belgian national at birth by virtue of his parent’s nationality. His family emigrated to Belgium in 1933 and then moved to Scotland in 1935 where Mark de Weerdt spent most of his childhood. After immigrating to Canada in 1949 with his parents and siblings, he completed his post-secondary education in British Columbia. His early career included stints with both the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the federal justice department in Ottawa. He married Anne Hadwen in 1956 with whom he had four sons. Anne studied occupational therapy and physiotherapy.
Mark de Weerdt relocated to Yellowknife in 1958, just two years after completing his law degree from the University of British Columbia. Upon his arrival, he discovered that he was one of only two lawyers in town. He undertook to complete the unfinished work of the Honourable John Parker, who had recently been appointed as a judge of the Territorial Court. In due course, Mark de Weerdt was sworn in by Justice J.H. Sissons. He later accepted the appointment to the position of Crown Attorney for the Northwest Territories and Agent for the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of Canada. As a member of Judge Sissons' circuit court, Mark de Weerdt journeyed to the remote communities of the Northwest Territories. These trips into small villages, provided him with a glimpse into the daily lives of the indigenous population, and the opportunity participate in cases involving both affiliates of northern Canada’s diverse aboriginal population and non-aboriginal residents.
In addition to the Crown work, Mark de Weerdt assumed a growing case load of other work, including document preparation and advisory services. He left his own legal firm in 1971 to become Magistrate and Juvenile Court Judge for the NWT. He held that position until 1973. In 1974 he joined the Legal Division of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia in Vancouver where he remained until 1976. He rejoined the federal justice department’s Vancouver office in 1976 and remained with federal Department of Justice in Vancouver until 1981,
Mark de Weerdt returned to the Northwest Territories in 1981 when he was appointed as a Judge in the Supreme Court for the Northwest Territories. During his time on the Supreme Court, Mark de Weerdt presided over many cases including the first degree murder trial that followed the Giant Mine explosion that resulted in the deaths of nine men. He remained in that position until his retirement in 1996. At that time he and his wife Anne returned to Vancouver, British Columbia.
Mark de Weerdt died in September of 2003.
John W. Goodall, born September 1890 in England, immigrated to Fort Simpson in 1927. He worked in agriculture raising potatoes and livestock commercially and fulfilled the role of postmaster for the community until 1954, when he became an elected member of the NWT Council for Fort Simpson until 1967. During this time, Goodall played a pivotal role in the activities of the council, including the construction of the residentail school and hostel in Fort Simpson. After retiring from politics in 1967, he was awarded a Medal of Service from the Order of Canada. He continued to play an active role in Fort Simpson, sitting on the Fort Simpson Local Advisory Committee until his death on September 12, 1971.
Thomas Albert Donnelly was born May 21, 1921 in Red Deer, Alberta. He grew up on the family farm with his parents, Albert and Mary, and his four brothers - John, Don, Bob and David. He served as a Sgt. Pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War and met his wife, Ida Lucy (Pat) Tofflemire in London during the war.
After the war, Thomas and his wife moved to Teslin, Yukon where he worked as a meteorologist at the airport, which was a part of the Northwest Staging Route. Thomas and his wife Pat had two sons, Tim and Michael, and four daughters, Chris, Eileen, Margaret and Susan. Two of his daughters (Susan and Margaret) were born in Teslin in 1951 and 1953.
He moved to Alberta circa 1955, and lived in Calgary, Suffield and Edmonton. He worked as a meteorologist for the Department of Transport, and later became an Inspector, which required him to travel throughout the Yukon and Northwest Territories. He was an avid photographer, and loved the North. Thomas Donnelly died on October 5, 2005 at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta at the age of 84.
The Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut (WSCC) was established on April 1st, 2008 when new Workers' Compensation Acts came into force in both territories, changing the name of the corporation to WSCC from Workers' Compensation Board. In addition to the Workers' Compensation Act, the WSCC administers the Safety Act, Explosives Use Act, and the Mine Health and Safety Act.
The WSCC promotes safety in the workplace and operates an insurance system to compensate workers for wage losses due to accidents occuring during the course of employment. Its responsibilities include providing guidance and safety inspections, adjudicating claims, administering pensions, providing medical and vocational rehabilitation programs, collecting insurance premiums from employers, and managing its financial resources to ensure funds are available for payments.
The WSCC reports to the Legislative Assemblies of the NWT and Nunavut through the Ministers responsible for the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission, and is directed by a Governance Council composed of seven members appointed by the ministers. It is an arm's length government agency and is funded by assessments levied on employers rather than by appropriations from the Legislative Assemblies of the two territories.
The WSCC originally included the following divisions: Corporate Services, NWT Operations, Nunavut Operations, Prevention Services, Legal, Medical, Human Resources, Communications, and the President. In the summer of 2009 these divisions underwent a reorganization. NWT Operations was broken up and its operational functions were grouped with related administrative functions, while Nunavut Operations remained as the WSCC's branch in Iqaluit. The new divisions created in 2009 were Client and Central Services (responsible for human resources, claims services, and medical services); Revenue and Financial Services (responsible for financial administration and the assessment of employer contributions); and Corporate Communications and Planning Services. The Prevention Services and Legal Services divisions continued and the President division was renamed Executive Services. In 2010, the Corporate Communications and Planning Services division was divided into Information Services, with responsibility for information technology and records management, and Corporate Communications and Policy Services, with responsibility for communications, policy, and the Review Committee.
The divisions were reorganized again in 2012, separating operational and administrative units. Financial Services kept only its financial administration functions; human resource functions were merged with Information Services to form the Corporate Services division; Executive Services and Legal Services were brought together as the President's Office, and Corporate Communications and Policy Services was renamed Executive Services; and the client and employer services functions were brought together to form Stakeholder Services. In 2015, the Prevention Services division was also merged into Stakeholder Services.
Henry "Hank" Koenen owned and operated Koenen's Air Service Ltd. from about 1949 to 1975. In 1960, there was a suggestion that he was considering selling Koenen's Air Service to Ken Stockall (one of his pilots), but the deal didn't go ahead. Another opportunity for sale arose in 1961, but again, the deal did not go ahead.
Koenen's Air Service provided charter services to places all over the Northwest Territories and a few outside, including Fort Simpson, Lac La Martre (Whati), Snowdrift (Lutselk'e), Fort Reliance, Fort Rae (Behchoko), Fort Norman (Tulita), Fort Good Hope, Fort Resolution , Trout Lake, Fort Providence, Thelon River, Rocher River, Fort Liard, Nahanni Butte, Fort Smith, Fort Franklin (Deline), Norman Wells, Jean Marie River, Pine Point, Coppermine (Kugluktuk), Athabasca, Lake Athabasca, Uranium City,and many small lakes, islands, and camps. Several planes were used by the business over the years, including CF-MFY Champion, CF-IYU Cessna, CF-HCQ Stinson, CF-HBL Cessna, and CF-EPP Cessna, among others. Several pilots, besides Hank Koenen, flew for Koenen's Air Service throughout its history, including: Bud Morceau, D. McKay, Keith Silvester, Ernie Boffa, Maurice Lynn, T. McCluny, Wolfgang Poepperl, Jim McAvoy, Ken Stockall, Kenneth Gordon Hornby, some of whom went on to found their own charter services.
Hank Koenen stops appearing the in Yellowknife telephone directory in 1963, although he reputedly remained in Yellowknife until the mid-1970s. Koenen's Air Service disappears from the directory in 1963, but reappears in 1964. Hank Koenen retired to Edmonton, selling Koenen's Air Service to Trevor Burroughs in the 1970s.
Trevor Burroughs appears to have operated Koenen's Air Service Limited in Yellowknife until about 1985, although it remained a federal corporation until 1995, when it was dissolved for non-compliance.