Commissioner of the Northwest Territories


The Commissioner of the Northwest Territories is the Government of Canada's representative in the Northwest Territories. Similar in certain functions to a lieutenant governor, the commissioner swears in the members of the legislative assembly, swears in members of the executive council, assents to bills, opens sessions of the legislative assembly, and signs other government documents such as Orders in Council.
Earlier commissioners were mostly deputy ministers in various ministries.
As commissioners are appointed by the Government of Canada, they are not a vice-regal representative in the territory—that is, unlike in Canada's provinces, there is no such thing as a "territorial Crown" analogous to the provincial Crowns. The commissioner represents the federal government and must follow any instructions of the Cabinet or the relevant federal minister, currently the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs.
Since 1980, the territories have had self-government, with the legislature choosing a government leader or premier, in addition to electing members of parliament to the Parliament of Canada.

Commissioners of the NWT

FromToName
24 August 190527 September 1918Frederick D. White
27 September 191831 March 1931William Wallace Cory
31 March 19311 May 1934Hugh H. Rowatt
1 May 19343 December 1936vacant
3 December 193614 January 1947Charles Camsell
14 January 194714 November 1950Hugh Llewellyn Keenleyside
14 November 195015 November 1953Hugh Andrew Young
15 November 195312 July 1963Robert Gordon Robertson
12 July 19632 March 1967Bent Gestur Sivertz
2 March 196715 April 1979Stuart Milton Hodgson
15 April 19792 October 1989John Havelock Parker
2 October 198916 January 1995Daniel L. Norris
16 January 199526 March 1999Helen Maksagak
26 March 199931 March 2000Daniel Joseph Marion
31 March 20007 April 2005Glenna Hansen
29 April 200528 May 2010Tony Whitford
28 May 201010 May 2016George Tuccaro
10 May 201618 September 2017vacant
18 September 2017presentMargaret M. Thom

Living former commissioners

On 24 October 2011 Gerald W. Kisoun was appointed Deputy Commissioner and his term was originally for three years. It was extended for a second three years and is due to expire 10 December 2017.