Creation

AfterConfederation in 1867, the Canadian government expanded its reach westward in an effort to secure the country’s political and economic future. In 1870, it acquiredRupert’s Land and the North-Western Territory from theHudson’s Bay Company (HBC) for £300,000(CAD$1.5 million) and a large land grant. Out of this vast territory, the tiny province ofManitoba was created on 15 July 1870. (SeeManitoba Act.)The remaining land was reconstituted as the North-West Territories (NWT).

All of this was done without consulting theIndigenous peoples of the region. That process was undertaken retroactively in the 1870s, in 1899 and after 1905. (See alsoIndigenous Peoples: Treaties.) Thefederal government initially chose to govern theNWT through Manitoba’slieutenant-governor inWinnipeg, and an appointed Council.

External Boundary Changes

The external boundary of the NWT was subject to many changes. The boundary withOntario was extended north in 1874. Around this time, the region betweenManitobaand Ontario was tied up in a boundary dispute. It was eventually resolved in Ontario’s favour. Manitoba’s boundary was increased slightly to the east, west and north in 1881. Boundary disputes with Ontario persisted until 1889. At that time, thefederal government added significant portions of the NWT to the north of Ontario. In 1898,Quebec’sboundaries were also extended northward.

The British transferred theArctic Archipelago to Canada on 1 September 1880. It was added to the NWT. The discovery of gold inYukonin 1896 brought about the need for a local government. In 1898, the federal government officially separated Yukon from the NWT and made it aterritory. (SeeYukon and Confederation.) In 1912, the boundaries of Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba were extended to their present locations.

The District of Keewatin was created in 1876. Its boundaries, which also changed periodically, extended north of Manitoba to the Arctic Ocean, east toHudson Bay and north ofOntario.

Internal Boundary Changes

In 1882, thefederal government created four provisional districts in the south and west of the NWT. They includedAssiniboia,Saskatchewan, Alberta and Athabasca. In 1895, additional provisional districts were created. They were Ungava (the northern part of present-dayQuebec), Mackenzie (between the 60thparallel and the Arctic Ocean), Franklin (the Arctic Archipelago) and Yukon. Also in 1895, the boundaries of Athabasca, formerly limited to the north of Alberta, were extended east to Keewatin.

Early Development and the North-West Territories Act

The federal government always intended that the prairie and parkland portion of the western territories — what is now Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba — would be the prime focus of White settlement and economic development. It negotiated sevenNumbered Treaties withIndigenous peoples between 1871 and 1877. These treaties coveredterritory from just west ofOntario to theRocky Mountains. They were intended to ensure peacefulsettlement. The government also surveyed a route for thetranscontinental railway. In 1873, it established theNorth-West Mounted Policeto enforce the law.

Administration of government policy in the NWT was conducted through the Department of the Interior. It was established in 1873. In 1875, it passed theNorth-West Territories Act.The Act provided a framework for governance. It allowed for a gradual transition from appointed torepresentative government as the population grew. It also providedregulations for the establishment of denominationalschool systems (Protestant andRoman Catholic), and for official status of theEnglish andFrench languages.(See alsoNorth-West Schools Question.)

Development of the NWT

TheNorth-West Territories Act provided for a separatelieutenant-governorand appointed Council. It also placed the capital atBattleford in 1876. In 1883, it was moved toRegina.Agricultural settlement, along with the infrastructure and urban centres to support it, grew steadily after the completion of theCanadian Pacific Railway (CPR)in 1885. The 1885census of Assiniboia, Saskatchewan and Alberta reported a total population of 48,362. Of this, 20,170 people (41.7 per cent) wereStatus Indians.The 1906 census ofSaskatchewan andAlberta reported 443,175 people, of which 12,861 (2.9 per cent)were Status Indians.

The tragedy of theNorth-West Resistance in the spring and early summer of 1885 was fuelled by discontent over unresolvedMétisland claims, and Indigenous resentment over broken treaty promises. (SeeIndigenous Land Claims.) White settlers also resented what it saw as the federal government’sneglect of the region’s interests. This in turn drove demand for the territory to control budgetary and policy matters. Ultimately, it drove a demand for provincial status. By 1888, the Territorial Assembly was almost entirely elected. It was grantedresponsible government in 1897. Official status for theFrench language was terminatedin 1892. The NWT then moved to impose centralized state control over the denominational school system.

Throughout the territorial period, thefederal government retained control of the region’s public lands andnatural resources (except onreserves). This ensured national control of the settlement process.It also integrated the West into the national economy. However, as a result, theterritorial government was denied the revenue from lands and resources, as well ascontrol of development, that the provinces enjoyed (except forManitoba).

Other factors also contributed to western resentment. Protective tariffs benefited central Canada. The CPR operated as a monopoly for years to ensure its viability. Vast areas of land were granted to the railways and theHBC.And freight rates were structured to benefit the railways at the expense of the farmer. The struggle to wrest provincial status from a resistant federal government, led most notably byFrederick Haultain,helped to entrench in the territories a deep suspicion of Ottawa. It also established a history of protest and a commitment to ideals of local control and direct democracy.

The increasing protests bore fruit in September 1905. The government ofSir Wilfrid Laurier created the provinces ofSaskatchewanandAlberta. (SeeAutonomy Bills.) However, Ottawa entrenched public and separate schoolsystems in the provincial constitutions. It also retained federal control of public lands and natural resources in the new provinces, making the process highly controversial.

See also:Territorial Government;Historical Boundaries of Canada;Redrawing the West: The Politics of Provincehood in 1905.