Politics of the Northwest Territories
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The Politics of Northwest Territories involves not only the governance of the
Key to the politics and governance of the Northwest Territories are the limits on the jurisdiction of the territorial government. Territories of Canada have no inherent jurisdiction and only have those powers delegated to them by the federal government.[1] [2] [3] The devolution and delegation of power to the territory has always been a factor in the territory's politics.
A hallmark of politics in the Northwest Territories is that it operates as under a “
Local governance has been a long-standing issue in the territory. This includes not only the loss of local government authority from the period from 1905 to 1951, when Ottawa asserted direct control over the governance of the territory, but also related matters of aboriginal self-governance and land claims. This latter issue lead, in part, to the division of the territory into the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Language has also been a long-standing issue in Northwest Territory politics. French became an official language, along with English, in 1877. This resulted in heated debates in the territorial assembly and the establishment of English as the only official language until pressure from the federal government in the 1980s lead to not only the inclusion of French as an official language, but also nine aboriginal languages.
See also
- History of Northwest Territories
- Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories
- Politics of Canada
- Political Culture of Canada
- Council of the Federation
References
- ^ Department of Justice Canada (1985). "Northwest Territories Act". Retrieved January 27, 2007.
- ^ Department of Justice Canada (2002). "Yukon Act". Retrieved January 27, 2007.
- ^ Department of Justice Canada (1993). "Nunavut Act". Retrieved January 27, 2007.