The 1970 Northwest Territories general election took place on December 21, 1970. It took place during the

centennial {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at ...

of the territory. Among the festivities earlier in the year was an official visit by Queen Elizabeth II to open the first Arctic Winter games in

Yellowknife Yellowknife (; Dogrib: ) is the capital, largest community, and only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the ...

. The world-famous Polar Bear licence plate was also unveiled. The centenary election brought up a number of old issues that have been seen in many elections in the past 100 years, mainly the transfer of powers from the federal government to the territory, full self-government, and rights for natives. This was the first election in which a woman,

Lena Pedersen Lena (Elizabeth Magdalena) Pedersen or Lena Pederson (born 1940, Greenland) is a politician and social worker from Nunavut, Canada. In 1959, she moved from Greenland to the Northwest Territories and lived in Coppermine (Kugluktuk), Pangnirtung an ...

was elected to the Territorial Legislature. She was one of ten elected members and four appointed members who would sit on the council. The voting age for this election was lowered from 21 to 19.

Election summary

Appointed members

Members of the Legislative Assembly elected

For complete electoral history, see individual districts

References

{{Northwest Territories elections 1970 elections in Canada Elections in the Northwest Territories December 1970 events in Canada 1970 in the Northwest Territories