Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
www.aandc-aadnc.gc.ca
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NWT Facts and Information
Canada's Northwest Territories (NWT) is located north of the 60th parallel, above Saskatchewan, Alberta, and eastern British Columbia, between the Yukon and Nunavut.
Over 43,200 people live in the NWT, of which approximately half of are Aboriginal. Much of the population lives in small communities, with about 17,000 people living in the capital city, Yellowknife. On average, the temperature in Yellowknife is -26 degrees celsius in January, and 16 degrees celsius in July.
Mineral and petroleum exploration and development are important key components of the NWT economy. The NWT currently has three diamond mines in production and another two in the works, and the Territory is considering the possibility of a Mackenzie Valley Pipeline. As well, tourism is a large part of the NWT economy. The NWT northern lights are world-famous, and adventure tourism has brought many sport enthusiasts to visit the “land of the midnight sun” for fishing, big-game hunting, canoeing, birding, camping and extreme racing.
On the political front, the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly has 19 members and functions in much the same way as a provincial legislature. However, in the NWT there are no political parties at the territorial government level. The NWT operates under a consensus system of government, which means that all Members of the Legislative Assembly are elected as independents in their constituencies. The current Premier of the NWT is Hon. Floyd Roland, and the Commissioner is Tony Whitford.
At the federal level, the Member of Parliament for the NWT is Dennis Bevington (NDP) and the Senator is Nick Sibbeston (Liberal).
For more information on the Northwest Territories, here are several helpful sites you may want to visit:
