Volume 4, 1951 - The Arctic Circle - Home

Published by The Arctic Circle
Ottawa, Ontario
Thirtieth Meeting of the Ar·ctic Circle
The thirtieth meeting of the Arctic Circle ~vas held in
the lst. Corps Troops R.C.A.S.C. Mess, 278 Sparks Street, on
Wednesday November 14.
The President, Mr. Frank Davies, was in the Chair and
introduced the speaker, Dr. Ross Fleming. Dr. Fleming described
his experiences as a medical officer in the Mackenzie
Valley. He illustrated his talk with a number of kodachrome
slides.
The coming of representative government to the
Northwest Territories
From 1905, v/hen the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan
were carved out of the Northwest Territories, until 1951, the
people of the Territories had no elected representation on
their territorial government. The administration of government
in the Territories was in the hands of the Commissioner acting
under instructions from the Governor in Council, the Minister
of Resources and Development. There was a Council of six
members appointed by the Governor in Councilj the Commissioner
in Council had legislative powers roughly the same as those of
a provincial parliament but the Commissioner and the Commissioner
in Council did not own or administer the natural resources in
the Territories and had no power to borrow money.
On 15 June 1951 partial representation was given. The
Northwest Territories Act was amended to increase the membership
of the Council from six to eight, five members to be
appointed by the Governor in Council and three to be elected
by the residents of the three electoral districts. The Act requires
that at least two sessions of the Council be held each
year and that one shall take place in the Territories. The
powers Of the Commissioner in Council were left unchanged.