1st Council of the North-West Territories

1st Council of the Northwest Territories
1st Council of the Northwest Territories
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Established	1876
Disbanded	1888
Preceded by	Temporary North-West Council
Succeeded by	1st North-West Legislative Assembly
Seats	7 – 15
Elections
Last election	1885 Northwest Territories election
Meeting place
	Fort Livingstone; Battleford; Regina

The 1st Council of the North-West Territories, also known as the North-West Council in Canada, lasted from October 7, 1876, to 1888.^[1] It was created as a permanent replacement to the Temporary North-West Council which existed prior to 1876.

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A 2nd Council of the North-West Territories was elected in 1888. It was replaced in 1891 by the 1st North-West Assembly when the quota of elected members was reached.

(A different 2nd Council of the Northwest Territories (1905-1951) was created in 1905, when the NWT lost most of its population, to differentiate the new one from the two legislative councils of the NWT that had existed 1876 to 1891.)

The first members of the new council were appointed under the Northwest Territories Act and consisted of the Lieutenant Governor, appointed men and Stipendiary Magistrates. Elected representatives were added later and could join the council. If an area of 1,000 square miles (2,600 km²) had 1000 people, an electoral district could be set up and a district member elected. This created a patchwork of represented and unrepresented areas, and there was no official or independent boundaries commission; all electoral law at the beginning was under the purview of the Lieutenant Governor.

Three electoral districts were created in 1881 and for an unknown reason writs were only issued in the district of Lorne, which returned the first elected member, Lawrence Clarke.

Electors participating in the Northwest Territories elections did not vote by secret ballot until the 1893 Whitewood by-election.^[2]

When the first council formed under the new appointed government in 1876, the council consisted of the lieutenant governor who acted as the chairman (speaker), and two appointed members. Because a quorum could not be maintained, the council had to be adjourned if one member went to the washroom.

Numerous elections took place during the period of 1876–1891 - 11 separate by-elections electing one or two members, 9 by-elections held on one day in September 1885 (1885 Northwest Territories election), and the 1888 North-West Territories general election.

The election of 1885 took place on September 15, 1885. The election saw 11 members in 9 new districts returned to the council, due to high rate of population growth in the North-west Territories at the time.

After the 1885 election, elected members became the majority in the council vis a vis the appointed members, although they had to fight to wrest control from the "colonial" officials. It became a full assembly.

The other elections, other than the 1888 general election, are not considered general elections, as there was no dissolution of the assembly - not all the members were up for election. However, after three years from an election, a district had to have another election - the seat was declared empty to be filled in an election.

For list of elected members please see below.