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The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer was a federal agency that was created in 1920 and reported to Parliament via the President of the Privy Council. In 1980, the name of the agency was changed to Elections Canada.

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.

Knut H. Lang was born on July 21, 1895 in Silkeborg, Jutland, Denmark. He worked his way to Canada via land-clearing in England and as a farm labourer in New Zealand. In 1928, he came to the north by cutting timber for a ship's fuel as it travelled down the Mackenzie River. He eventually settled in Aklavik where he operated a small trading post and also worked as an independent trapper. He was elected to the Northwest Territories Council in August 1957 to represent the Mackenzie Delta and remained a member until the last session which closed in November 1963. He died on April 13, 1964 after a long illness.

The photographs were taken by Vincent McCaffrey. Originally from Cobalt, Ontario, Mr. McCaffrey lived in the Yellowknife region from 1955-1969 and was employed as a foreman at Discovery Mine. He was also active in local politics and a member of the NWT Liberal Party.

On April 1, 2017, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations merged with the Department of the Executive to form the Department of the Executive and Indigenous Affairs (EIA).

The Department of the Executive was established in 1967. It was comprised of the Commissioner's Office, the Ministers' Offices and the Executive Council Secretariat that provided administrative and operational support to the department and to the Executive Council that in turn directed the administration branch of the Government of the Northwest Territories. Regional Directors coordinated government activities in each of the five administrative regions of the Northwest Territories. Executive staff, which reported to Regional Directors, were located in many communities and assisted with the coordination and dissemination of information related to government programs and services at the community level.

The Department of the Executive provided operational and administrative support to many activities and agencies including: Fire Marshal or Fire Prevention Services (1967-1971); Management Services or Internal Audit and Regulations (1969-1971); Historical Advisory Board (1970-1971); Liquor System (1970-1971); Emergency Measures or Emergency Planning and Environment Protection (1975-1977) and (1982-1983); Science Advisory Board (1976-1977); Land Claims Secretariat (1978-1980); In-Service Library (1973-1975) and (1981-1983); Geographic and Place Names (1985-1986); Security Advisor or Security (1974-1993) Office of Constitutional Development or Office of Devolution (1985-1992); Highway Transport Board/Public Utilities Board (1989-1992); Energy and Resource Development Secretariat or Energy, Mines and Resource Secretariat (1981-1989); Bureau of Statistics (1979-1994); Worker's Compensation Board (1982-1997) and the Science Institute of the Northwest Territories (1989-1994).

In a major restructuring between 1994 and 1995, the Executive Council directed that the Ministerial and Departmental Mandates and Goals of the Department of the Executive, Finance and Personnel be revised and that associated organizational changes be implemented. The Department of the Executive was reorganized and divided into three separate and distinct programs, each under the authority of a separate Minister. The three programs are: Executive Offices, the Financial Management Board Secretariat and the Ministry of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs (formerly Aboriginal Rights and Constitutional Development Secretariat).

The Executive Offices Program provides overall direction, management and coordination to the GNWT as a whole. The Department provides policy, legislative, communications and strategic advice to Cabinet and to GNWT departments. The program also provides broad direction for the territorial public service and addresses national and international issues that have cross-departmental implications. The Executive Offices reviews all departmental initiatives to ensure that they support the government’s agenda in a balanced manner and directs focus towards areas where balance is not being achieved. The Secretary to Cabinet/Deputy Minister of Executive manages the Executive Offices Program. This program is responsible for the following: the Commissioner's Office, the Ministers' Offices, the Cabinet Secretariat and the Public Utilities Board. In 2003-2004, Executive Offices Program became responsible for the another unit, the Beaufort Delta Regional Office, which was responsible for implementing Cabinet priorities and direction, coordinating GNWT program and service responsibilities in the region and transition planning at the regional level in preparation for the implementation of a final self-government agreement.

The Commissioner’s Office provides funding for the Commissioner’s operational expenses, travel and support staff and for the Commissioner’s Award Program which recognizes individuals who distinguish themselves by acts of bravery of exceptional public service.

The Ministers' Offices include the Premier's Office, Ministers' Offices, and Women's Advisory. This unit provides advice, communication and operation support to the Premier and Cabinet, six Ministers and support staff. The Women’s Advisory provides a point of contact within the territorial government on issues of concern to women and advice and support to the Minister Responsible for the Status of Women.

The programs delivered by the Cabinet Secretariat have changed throughout the years. It has included such units as Secretariat Management, Official Languages Unit, Personnel Secretariat, Division Review Secretariat, Intergovernmental Affairs, and Corporate Services, which supports all three Programs of the Department of the Executive budgetary by providing, budgetary, financial and administrative services. The Legislation and House Planning unit provides advice and support to Cabinet, departments and government agencies with respect to the development of legislation and for sessions of the Legislative Assembly. Between 1998-1999, the Regulatory Reform Secretariat was added to the Cabinet Secretariat activity. This activity was responsible for reviewing the way government departments and agencies carry out regulatory responsibilities in order to reduce barriers to economic growth. This review process was completed within the same fiscal year. The Division Review Secretariat also operated between 1998-2000, and provided support and advice to Cabinet and acted as a liaison between the GNWT and the Government of Nunavut. After division of the Northwest Territories and the creation of Nunavut, this unit ceased to exist. In 1999-2000, the Personnel Secretariat Unit was renamed Corporate Human Resource Services. This unit continued to develop and monitor the government's recruitment policy, Affirmative Action Policy and other government-wide human resource policies, as well as provide training and advice to GNWT departments on staff development and human resource planning. Furthermore, the services delivered by the Official Languages Unit were transferred to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment in 1999. Between 2000-2001, three new units were added to the Cabinet Secretariat; Communications, Regional Relations and Intergovernmental Forum Secretariat. The Communications Unit develops, produces and distributes Department of Executive publications, provides advice and implements public affairs strategies to the Premier, Executive Council and Departments and provides protocol services to the GNWT. In addition, this unit communities the goals, strategies and agenda of the GNWT within government and to the public. The Regional Relations Unit is responsible for enhancing communications within and between regions and Headquarters. It also assists regions in preparation for transfer of government programs and services through capacity building and aboriginal self-government. This unit ceased to exist in 2002-2003. The Intergovernmental Forum Secretariat is responsible for coordinating the Government’s participation in Aboriginal, Territorial and Federal government discussions on issues such as devolution, resource revenue sharing, oil and gas developments, and fiscal relationship with Ottawa and northern control over northern resources. In 2002-2003, the Intergovernmental Forum Secretariat and the Intergovernmental Affairs Unit joined to form the Intergovernmental Relations and Strategic Planning Unit. The Energy Secretariat was added to the Cabinet Secretariat in 2002-2003. It was responsible for coordinating the development of an NWT Energy Strategy within the GNWT. Once this unit completed its task and ceased to exist in 2003-2004. The Corporate Review and Transition Planning Project was added to the Cabinet Secretariat in 2003-2004; it conducted an examination of GNWT functions and structure in order to report on future issues and actions for consideration by the Executive Council.

The Public Utilities Board is an independent regulatory agency responsible for the regulation of the energy utilities in the NWT. The Board derives its authority from the Public Utilities Act.

The Financial Management Board Secretariat (FMBS) was expanded and transferred from the Department of Finance to the Department of Executive. With the exception of staffing and external financial responsibilities, the Financial Management Board Secretariat has assumed all human resource and financial management functions of the Department of Personnel and Finance. FMBS provides centralized revenue and general accounting, comptrollership, program and organizational design services, internal audit, program evaluation, pay and benefit services, human resources planning and development as well as labour relations services to the Government of the Northwest Territories. These services are provided through four core business units: Directorate, Human Resources, Government Accounting and Audit, Budgeting and Evaluation. Between 1998-99, these core units changed to the Directorate, Labour Relations and Compensation Services, Government Accounting, the Audit Bureau and Budgeting and Evaluation. In 2003-2004, the Office of the Chief Information Officer was created and reported to the Secretary of the Financial Management Board/Comptroller General. This Office was responsible for developing a strategy for the management and utilization of the GNWT’s information resources, as well as coordinates an information management/information systems/information technology planning process that span multiple departments as well as provide advice and support to the Informatics Policy Committee.

The Ministry of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs serves the Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affairs and the Cabinet Committee System. The Ministry manages and coordinates GNWT participation at land claims, self-government and treaty negotiations and monitors Western constitutional development. The three areas of program support included the Directorate, Policy and Implementation and Negotiations. Between 2001-2002, the Policy and Implementation Division separated to form their own separate divisions. The Implementation Division became solely responsible for the negotiation of implementation plans and managing and monitoring the implementation of settled lands, resources and self-government agreements. In 2002-2003, a new unit was added to the Ministry. The Intergovernmental Forum Secretariat is responsible for GNWT coordination in Aboriginal, territorial and federal government discussions on pan-territorial issues such as economic development, capacity building and financing governments. The Ministry also works to enhance communications with regions and between regions and Headquarters and to work with regions to prepare for changes to the delivery of government programs and services in advance of new governance arrangements being negotiated. A sixth functional unit was added to the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs in 2003-2004 with the Devolution Division. This division is responsible for managing GNWT participation and representing the GNWT interest in the negotiations of devolution and resource revenue sharing agreements. The Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations (DAAIR) formed in 2006-2007 when the Department of Aboriginal Affairs gained the intergovernmental relations function from the Department of Executive. The Department of Aboriginal Affairs had also been responsible for devolution and resource revenue functions, however with the formation of the DAAIR, these functions remained with the Executive.

As the primary body of elected officials, the Legislative Assembly is empowered to pass new laws, amend existing laws, determine how public monies are expended, and approve policies and programs. Elections are held every four years and following the elections, the members of the Legislative Assembly elect from among themselves a Speaker of the House, a Premier and the members of the Executive Council. The members of the Executive Council, the Ministers, are assigned portfolios by the Premier and are responsible for managing the various departments and agencies of the Government of the Northwest Territories. Typically this includes introducing new legislation, setting budgets and setting government direction. Prior to 1979, the Legislative Assembly was known as the NWT Council, or Council of the Northwest Territories.

The Legislative Assembly operates according to standard parliamentary procedures with some modifications. The Assembly frequently refers questions to the Committee of the Whole where informal discussion takes place. The Legislative Assembly establishes standing and special committees in order to gather information and public opinion on different issues. The standing or permanent committees on finance, public accounts and legislation carry out a majority of the work of the Legislative Assembly. Sessions are usually held twice yearly for approximately 12 weeks. The official seven languages of the Northwest Territories (English, French, Chipewyan, Slavey, Dogrib, Gwich'in and Inuktitut) are used in the Legislative Assembly with interpretation services provided by the GNWT Language Bureau.

The original North West Territories were created in 1870 when the Hudson's Bay Company sold to the British Government all the lands which it governed under the letters patent of Charles II. These lands were im­mediately transferred to the Government of Canada. On June 22, 1869, the Dominion government of Canada had passed An Act for the temporary government of Rupert's Land and the Northwest Territory in preparation for the transfer of control of these lands. This Act provided for a lieutenant governor, who was to set up a council of 7 to 15 in the administration of affairs. The lands included all the country drained by the rivers flowing into Hudson Bay including most of Saskatchewan and Alberta, part of Manitoba and the Keewatin District of Nunavut. It did not at that time include the greater part of the Arctic, to which the United Kingdom had some claim arising from the various naval expeditions of the early nineteenth century. Although the Hudson's Bay Company abandoned its jurisdiction in 1870, it retained its trading posts and expanded its commercial activities into other parts of Canada. In 1880 the British Government transferred any rights which it had over the Arctic Islands (which were still not completely explored or mapped) to the Canadian Government.

In 1875, the North-West Territories Act was passed, providing for a resident Lieutenant-Governor and an appointed council of not more than five people. A provision allowed for electoral districts of not more than 1000 square miles and not less than 1000 people. At such time as there were 21 electoral districts, the Council would become a Legislative Assembly. This number was surpassed in 1888. The Territories were governed by English law as it existed at the time of the transfer to Canada. This was amended by a con­siderable body of Ordinances passed by the Council. Increasing demands for political independence led to the 1905 creation of the Provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta and the northward extension of the Province of Manitoba.

The remaining Northwest Territories were constituted by an Act of the Canadian Parliament (4 & 5 Edw.VII, c. 27) in 1905. This provided for the appointment of a Commissioner and a nominated Council of four. A Commissioner for the Territories was appointed in August 1905 but for the next fifteen years the Commissioner ruled without the assistance of a Territorial Council.
The two Commissioners during this period were Frederick White (1905 - 1919), who was also Comptroller of the Royal North West Mounted Police, and N.W. Cory (1919 - 1930), who was Deputy Minister of the Interior. The entire adminis­tration of the Territories was therefore, in Ottawa. Administration of the Territories was the responsibility of the Federal Minister of the Interior, to whom both the Commissioner of Police and the Commissioner of the Territories reported. The population of the Northwest Territories was very sparse in 1905 and the northern islands still largely unexplored. It was not until 1911 that the first complete census was organized throughout the area. Since the area to be covered was vast, administration was limited to essen­tials, and these duties were of a municipal type - the relief of the desti­tute, care of the sick and the prevention of crime. The police posts and patrols provided the local personnel and they were supplemented by the volun­tary efforts of missionaries and Hudson's Bay Company post managers. The police reported to the Mining Lands and Yukon Branch of the Ministry of the Interior (the Mines Branch until 1909) in all matters concerning the Terri­tories. For the administration of justice, the relevant ordinances of the old North West Territories were applied. A few amendments and additions were made by Order in Council at the end of this period, but a decision of the Department of Justice in April, 1921 stated that these were invalid because no Council existed. Any justices appointed for the original Terri­tories were apparently considered capable of hearing cases, and no new jus­tices were appointed. Appeals could be made from their decisions to the nearest Provincial Court of Appeal (Acts 6 & 7 Edw. VII, c. 32 and 7 & 8 Edw. VII, c. 49).

Canada's interest in its Arctic territories has been stimulated from time to time by geological discoveries (gold, other metals and oil) or by war. Each of these events has been followed by changes (and an in­crease in volume) of administrative and judicial activity. The first of these changes occurred at the end of the First World War when oil was dis­covered at Norman Wells. The need to provide for the registration of land and mining claims in the Mackenzie District and for the amendment of the old Ordinance led to the appointment of the first Territorial Council on 20 April, 1921. The councillors (all senior members of the De­partment of the Interior, including the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) met only once, on 28 April 1921, to hear a report by their Acting Secretary, Mr. O.S. Finnie. A party of twenty-two employees had been sent from Ottawa to Fort Smith (just across the Alberta border) to organize a government office for the Mackenzie District. The councillors expressed considerable doubt about the legal posi­tion of the administration. The Ordinances needed revision and the validity of some was referred to the Department's legal advisers. Consideration was given to raising territorial revenue by charging fees for trading and busi­ness licences. It was agreed to ask for an amending Act to increase the number of councillors to six. The amending Act (11 & 12 Geo. V, c. 40) was passed on 13 June 1922 and the new Council met on the next day in a flurry of legal activity. The City of Ottawa lawfully became, for the first time, the capital of the Northwest Territories. The Entry and the Beverage Ordinances (issue by the Commissioner's sole authority) were declared ultra vires, and various official duties relating to the Territories were re-assigned.

A Northwest Territories and Yukon Branch was organized within the Department of the Interior with Mr. O.S. Finnie as its Director. He, and the Superintendent General of Indian Affairs became the two new councillors added by authority of the 1922 Act. By agreement with the Quebec Government, the Branch was also responsible for New Quebec and its Indigenous people. In 1936, when the Department of the Interior was abolished, the Branch and its duties were transferred to the Department of Mines and Resources. It was renamed the Bureau of Northwest Territories and Yukon Affairs and placed in the Lands, Parks and Forests Branch of the Department. In 1950 and 1951 the duties of the Bureau were re-arranged and it was renamed several times.

Until the outbreak of the Second World War, the Territories con­tinued to be governed in the same fashion as before 1922. The police (now re-organized as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) provided the local ad­ministration with assistance from the handful of local territorial govern­ment employees as well as the missionaries and H.B.C. post managers. How­ever closer control was maintained by the Ottawa office and the Territorial Council. Increased efforts were made to list and control the Indigenous peoples. This in turn led to further demands for welfare services and an extension of law enforcement. Progress was slow. It was not until 1942, as a result of wartime problems, that Inuit were listed and issued with disc numbers. For many years the only magistrate in the Territories was an Alberta provin­cial judge who made an annual visit to the Territories.

The discovery of gold in the Great Slave Lake area was followed by the Second World War and further development of the oil resources of Norman Wells. Although these events did not produce any legislative and administrative changes, their impact on the Northwest Territories is clearly shown by the increased number of meetings of the Council and the increased volume of business generated by the administration. During almost the whole of this period the appropriate Deputy Minister acted as Commissioner: W.W. Cory (1919-31), H.H. Rowatt (1931-34), Dr. Charles Camsell (1936-46), and Dr. H.L. Keenleyside (1947-50). In 1935 Mr. R.A. Gibson, the Deputy Commissioner, presided at meetings of the Council. All the members of the Council were Federal public servants, with the first northern resident only being appointed to the Council in 1947 (J.G. McNiven). However by 1951 it was quite clear that this colonial style of government was unsuitable for the increased population and industrial activities of the Territories.

In 1951, the Northwest Territories Act was amended to permit three elected members to be included in the Council of eight and required Council to hold at least two sessions a year, one of them in the north. Further amendments increased the Council's legislative and financial powers. By 1955, Council could authorize the Commissioner to make agreements with the federal government, subject to Ottawa's approval and they could use a separate Northwest Territories revenue account, as long as a deficit was not created. The amendments also allowed the Commissioner to control some public lands, created a Territorial Court, and repealed major part of the NWT Act so that territorial ordinances could take their place.

In 1958, the Council received the power to borrow money subject to federal approval and by 1960 the Council had the power to pass game laws affecting Dene and Inuit. A fourth elected member was added in 1954, as Council membership rose to nine. The size remained the same until 1966, when the first electoral districts were created outside of the Mackenzie. In 1960, the first members from outside the civil service were appointed. In 1964, separate offices for the Government of the Northwest Territories were created; the position of Commissioner became a full-time appointment and the task of building a headquarters that would eventually move north began. A year later, the naming of the Deputy Commissioner became a separate Governor-in-Council appointment and his duties were made full-time. By 1964, four of the five appointees to the nine-member Council were from the private sector; the Deputy Commissioner remained as the only civil servant appointee to the Council. In 1965, the first Inuit member of Council was appointed and the following year, the Council's elected membership increased from four to seven as electoral districts were created in the Keewatin, High Arctic and Eastern Arctic. In that year the Commissioner-in-Council was given authority to set qualifications for electors and candidates, and a separate Consolidated Revenue Fund for the Northwest Territories was set up within the Consolidated Revenue Fund of Canada.

The Carrothers Report recommended that northern residents be given a greater degree of self-government, but felt that the Northwest Territories should not be divided at that time. In 1967, the territorial government moved to the new capital of Yellowknife, as the Report had recommended. In 1970, the Northwest Territories Act was amended again and Council's elected membership increased to 10 and the appointed membership decreased from five to four. Council's term of office was increased to four years from three and the Commissioner-in-Council was authorized to set members' indemnities and allowances and the period in which Ottawa could disallow territorial legislation was cut from two years to one.

The Seventh Council, which included the first elected Dene member, two Inuit members and a Metis member, took office early in 1971. The first fully-elected Council since 1905 took office in 1975. This Council was given the authority to elect its own Speaker and to name two elected members to the Executive Committee (a third was added a year later). In 1979, the NWT Council was renamed the Legislative Assembly. As the chief political body it is composed of non-partisan elected officials representing all residents of the Northwest Territories.

Between 1980-1981, the Legislative Assembly provided all administrative and support services to the Assembly, to the Standing and Special Committees and to individual Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) throughout the year. Its budget included provision for all indemnities and allowances, including those related to the activities of the MLAs. Initially, the main task of the Legislative Assembly was to work toward responsible government and ultimately to attain provincehood for the Northwest Territories. The Clerk's office worked closely with the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada during elections, when electoral districts were being established and members were being elected.

As the Legislative Assembly evolved, the Deputy Commissioner position was removed from the Executive in 1983. The Legislative Assembly budget increased and provided for additional activities of the Legislative Assembly, including retiring allowances for MLAs, the costs of holding sessions of the Assembly and the meetings of Standing and Special Committees. The Standing and Special have concentrated on such matters as the Constitution of Canada, Division of the Northwest Territories, and Constitutional Development in the Western portion of the Territories and Electoral District Boundaries.

Between 1990-1991, the mandate of the Legislative Assembly was as follows: The Speaker and Clerk of the Legislative Assembly were responsible for all activities of the Legislative Assembly. The administration of the Office of the Legislative Assembly and the Office of the Clerk adhered to the Executive Council Act and the Legislative Assembly Retiring Allowances Act. The Acts represented the legal mandate of the Legislative Assembly. The Management and Services Board, in accordance with the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, provided the legal and administrative structure for the Legislative Assembly. The Office of the Clerk provided research, financial, administrative, committee, and public affairs support to members of the Legislative Assembly. Between 1992-1993, the Legislative Assembly Retiring Allowances Act, the Supplementary Retiring Allowances Act, the Elections Act and Official Languages Act were added to the legal mandate of the Legislative Assembly.

Prior to 1993, the Legislative Assembly operated from temporary and leased premises. With the opening of the new Legislative building in 1993, the services delivered by the Assembly expanded. The Clerk provided advice and support to the Speaker and Members on procedural and administrative matters, managed the Legislative Assembly offices, coordinated the provision of legal services to the Speaker, Members, Committees, Management and Services Board and coordinated the duties of the Sergeant-at-Arms and the Pages.

The House and Committee Services provided procedural advice to the Speaker, Chairmen, Committees and Members of the Assembly, managed support services, maintained house records, produced House documents, and managed the Hansard service and the language services, which included the translation of House documents.

The Research and Information Services provided research services to Members and Committees, provided information and reference services through the Legislative and Government Library, provided public information about the Legislative Assembly and assisted Members in the preparation of public information materials.

The Finance and Administration division provided financial and administrative support to the Legislative Assembly, human resource management services, coordinated the management of pension plan for Members, provided administrative support to Members and administrative and financial support to Office of the Languages Commissioner.

The Facilities Management division provided overall management of the Legislative Assembly building and facilities by providing security, maintenance and janitorial services.

The Elections NWT program provided for the administration of Elections and Plebiscites and the Office of the Languages Commissioner provided for the independent operation of the Language Commissioner.

In 1994-1995, the services provided by the Legislative Assembly were condensed to form the following programs. The Office of the Clerk, Office of the Speaker, Expenditures on Behalf of Members, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer and the Commissioner of Official Languages.

The Office of the Clerk included the Clerk’s Office, Deputy Clerk’s Office, Finance and Administration, Research and Library Services, Sessions and Committees. Through these various units the Office of the Clerk managed and directed the Legislative Assembly Office and provided advice and support to the Speaker and Members on procedural and administrative matters, as well as provided visitor services, public information and language services. Through the Research and Library Section, research and reference services were provided to individual Members, Standing and Special Committees, and to the Clerk’s Office and Deputy Clerk’s Office. The Sessions and Committee Units provided funding for the administration of session, provision of Hansard service and funded the administration of all Committees of the Legislative Assembly. Between 1999-2000, the Finance and Administration section was renamed Corporate Services to include financial management, human resources, electronic data processing, office automation, information services and the overall management of the Legislative Building and its facilities. Between 2003-2004, the Research and Library Services was separated into two distinct functions: Research Services and Library Services.

The Office of the Speaker is responsible for developing policies on the overall control and operation of the Office of the Legislative Assembly as Chair of the Management and Services Board. The Speaker is the official representative of the Legislative Assembly at Provincial/Territorial, Federal and International functions.

The Expenditures on Behalf of Members activity provides allowances, per diems, indemnities, pension administration, as well as salaries for Member's constituency assistants.

The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer conducts and administers general elections, by-elections and plebiscites in the Northwest Territories according to legislation enacted by the Legislative Assembly. This office is responsible to educate and inform eligible electors and candidates in the Northwest Territories of their democratic rights accorded to them in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Commissioner of Official Languages is responsible for ensuring that the rights, status and privileges of all Official Languages in the Northwest Territories are complied with within the spirit of the Official Languages Act. The Languages Commissioner is responsible for tabling an annual report to the Legislative Assembly that details the activities undertaken and achieved by the office.

In 2004, the NWT Human Rights Commission was established by the enactment of the NWT Human Rights Act. Members of the Commission are appointed by the Legislative Assembly for a term of four years. The Director is an officer of the Commission and is also appointed by the Legislative Assembly for a four year term. Adjucation of complaints/disputes rests with the NWT Human Rights Adjudication Panel, a separate entity.

John Havelock Parker was born February 2, 1929 in Didsbury, Alberta. He graduated from the University of Alberta Engineering Geology programme in 1951 and came north in 1954 to work for Norm Byrne in the mining business, eventually becoming manager of the Rayrock Mine. He married Helen Panabaker and the couple had two children, Sharon and Gordon. In 1959 he was elected Councillor, Town of Yellowknife and served for five years before successfully running for Mayor in 1964. During the period as mayor, then a part-time position, Mr. Parker was also employed as the President of Precambrian Mining Services Ltd. In 1967 Mr. Parker became a Member of the Northwest Territories Council and was appointed Deputy Commissioner to Commissioner Stuart M. Hodgson on March 2, 1967. At this time, the Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner positions held cabinet portfolios like their colleagues on the Executive Council. Beginning in 1975, the Executive Council made changes to allow for the addition of elected members. Up to that time the Executive Council was comprised of appointed members. As then Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Parker stopped sitting with the Executive. By 1979, the majority of Council members were elected. John Parker was appointed Commissioner of the Northwest Territories on April 15, 1979. Now that a fully-elected Executive Council was in power, the Commissioner ceased to sit with the (now) Legislative Assembly during formal sessions. In 1981, the Commissioner ceased to join discussion during the Committee of the Whole. In 1986 the Commissioner’s role had been reduced further. He stopped chairing the Executive Committee meetings and was no longer the head of the Department of Personnel. Newly-named Government Leader Nick Sibbeston then became the Chair of the Executive Committee. Also in 1986, Mr. Parker was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for his “significant contributions to the evolution and development both of the municipal government of Yellowknife and of the territorial government”. Mr. Parker is also a member of the Aboriginal Order of Canada. By 1989, when Mr. Parker stepped down, the Commissioner had a greatly reduced role in the day to day high-level decision making of government. Mr. Parker continued to serve on the boards of several northern corporations and was a member of a number of associations. These include the NWT Power Corporation, Conference Board of Canada, the Canadian Red Cross Society, the Evaz Group, and Aber Diamonds. He was Chairman of the Science Institute of the Northwest Territories, Past President and Patron of the NWT Boy Scout Council, a Director of the Arctic Institute of North America, Chairman of the Northwest Territories Coordinating Committee, and a member of the Council of Trustees, The Institute for Research on Public Policy.

Robert "Bobby" Porritt (1905-1984) was born in Leeds, England. He came to Canada with his family in 1912, and they moved to a homestead farm near Jarvie, Alberta in 1915. He moved to the Northwest Territories circa 1927, spending a couple of years as a carpenter on projects in Fort Smith, Fort Simpson and Fort Resolution. He remained in Fort Resolution working as the first Canadian Airways agent [1927?]. During his years in Fort Resolution, he also worked as postmaster [1930?] and spent seven years in the fur trade with Northern Traders. In 1938, he started the Fort Resolution Lumber Company, which supplied lumber around the lake, particularly for Yellowknife buildings such as the Old Stope Hotel. Porritt spent some time in Yellowknife, coordinating lumber orders, and claims to have built the first Yellowknife school in 1939. The lumber business led to a water freight business, Robert Porritt Transportation, which appears to have been based in Yellowknife [1944-1949?]. In 1949, Porritt moved to Hay River and set up a general store, a fur trading business and an insurance agency. He established the short-lived Great Slave Industries in 1969, planning to build a marina in Hay River, and was involved in the revival of the sawmill in Fort Resolution during the same year. He continued to trade furs until his death.

Active politically for many years, Porritt ran for the Yellowknife Town Council in 1945. He lost his first bid for the Northwest Territories Legislative Council in 1951, but was successful in 1954, 1957 and 1964, spending almost ten years on the NWT Council (1954-1960, 1964-1967). He also lost bids for election to the NWT Council in 1960, 1967 and 1970. As a member of the Council, he was particularly interested in issues such as transportation, Indigenous welfare, health care, fisheries, trapping, education, the postal service, and the Hay River economy. He was also active in local politics and local organizations. He was appointed to the Hay River Board of Trustees in 1950, and spent at least seven years on the Board of Trustees, municipal and town councils for Hay River. He was president of the Hay River Chamber of Commerce, chair of the Lands and Parks Committee, and a member of the local Health Board, the Hospital Committee, the Public Works Committee, and the Kiwanis Club. Bobby Porritt died in 1984.

David Harry Searle was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1936. He moved to Yellowknife in 1946 where his father worked for Con Mine. Searle was educated in the Yellowknife public school system. During his high school years, he worked summer jobs at Con Mine.

Searle attended the University of Alberta and earned degrees in history and law (1961). As a young man, joined the Canadian Officers Training Corps and served in the Royal Canadian Army reserve as a military policeman.

David Searle returned to Yellowknife and, in 1963, co-founded the law firm de Weerdt Searle with Mark de Weerdt. Searle was the founding President of the Law Society of the Northwest Territories in 1978. He practiced law in the NWT until 1981.

While practicing law, Searle was also involved in politics in the NWT. First elected to the Northwest Territories Council in 1967 in the riding of Mackenzie North, Searle was elected again in 1970 and 1975 for the riding of Yellowknife South. From 1975 to 1979, he served at the Speaker of the House, and as such was the first Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. Searle ran for federal politics in 1979 but narrowly lost.

David Searle was the first President of Scouts Canada in the NWT and played a large role in the scouting community in the north. Searle also served on a number of other boards during his time in the north.

David Searle and his family moved to Vancouver in 1981, where Searle continued to practice law until his retirement in 2006. He was an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia (Faculty of Law) from 1991 to 2004. In the 1990s, Searle also played a role in the corporate world, where he served as a lawyer during the development of diamond mines in the NWT.

In 2000, Searle was awarded the Order of Canada for his roles in government, law, and with Scouts Canada during his time in the north.

David Searle married Dorelle Edna Parsons and they had two children, Marc and Kristi. Following Dorelle’s death in 1994, Searle married Celia Stock in 2000.

David Searle died March 1, 2021, aged 84, in Saanich, British Columbia.

Nicholas (Nick) George Sibbeston was born in Fort Simpson on November 21, 1943. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, he returned to Fort Simpson as the hamlet secretary-manager. From 1970-1974, he was a member of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly after which he attended law school at the University of Alberta. He completed his degree in 1975 becoming the first northern lawyer born in the Northwest Territories. Nick Sibbeston was re-elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1979 and he served in a number of portfolios including Government Leader (1985-1987), Minister of Economic Development and Tourism, Culture and Communications (1986-1987), Aboriginal Rights and Constitutional Development (1984-1987), Intergovernmental Affairs (1985-1987), Local Government (1984-1985) and the Northwest Territories Science Institute (1987-1988). He was also chairman of the Western Constitutional Forum, the group negotiating for the new western territory to be created upon the division of the Northwest Territories in 1999. He resigned from the Legislative Assembly in 1991 in order to continue his law practice.

The Western Arctic New Democratic Party was formed in 1971 as the Northwest Territories New Democratic Party. The purpose and objectives of the party were to develop and promote programs and a set of principles for the New Democratic Party consistent with the Federal Party program and suitable to the Northwest Territories; to organize the activities of the members of the New Democratic Party in the Northwest Territories and to fully involve women and aboriginal people in the operation and activities of the New Democratic Party in the Northwest Territories. In 1983, the citizens of the Northwest Territories supported a plebiscite on the division and formation of two autonomous territories within the Northwest Territories. At this time, the New Democratic Party of Canada created two separated provincial sections from the Northwest Territories based at the time on the federal riding division boundary. Wally Firth was the first New Democrat Party member to become a Member of Parliament. He was first elected in 1972 and again in 1974. There are no Territorial level parties represented in the Legislative Assembly.