History of Northwest Territories Capital Cities - Lessons Learned For Nunavut Capital (1995 Vote)

Lessons Learned For Nunavut Capital (1995 Vote)

For more details on this topic, see Nunavut capital plebiscite, 1995.

As chronicled above, all seven capitals throughout the history of the Northwest Territories were chosen by some form of external government decision, though the Carrothers Commission did consult with the territorial population to guide its decision.

After the selection of Yellowknife as the capital in 1967, many residents in the eastern Arctic continued to feel unrepresented by the territorial government, and many movements and groups were formed to remedy the situation. Lessons had been learned from the historical changes in the Northwest Territories' seat of power, resulting in a number of territorial democratic processes leading to the creation of the new territory of Nunavut in 1999, formed from the eastern half of the Northwest Territories.

In 1976, as part of the land claims negotiations between the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami population and the Government of Canada, the parties discussed division of the Northwest Territories to provide a separate territory for the Inuit. In 1982, a plebiscite on division was held throughout the Northwest Territories, in which a majority of the residents voted in favour of division.

The land claims agreement was completed in September 1992 and ratified by a majority of voters. On July 9, 1993, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act and the Nunavut Act were passed by the Canadian Parliament.

In December, 1995, the Nunavut capital plebiscite was held, and the voters in the future Nunavut territory chose Iqaluit as their capital city, defeating Rankin Inlet by a narrow margin. Iqaluit became the official capital on April 1, 1999, when Nunavut separated from the Northwest Territories.