David Harry Searle (1936 – March 1, 2021) was a Canadian politician and lawyer from the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

Legal career

Born in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Searle moved to

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 ...

, Northwest Territories with his family in 1946. He was educated at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

. Searle established his law practice in 1963 partnering with Justice Mark de Weerdt in Yellowknife. He practised law in the territory until 1981. He served as a

crown attorney Crown attorneys or crown counsel (or, in Alberta and New Brunswick, crown prosecutors) are the prosecutors in the legal system of Canada. Crown attorneys represent the Crown and act as prosecutor in proceedings under the Criminal Code and vario ...

until his election in 1967. Searle moved to

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

and practised mining and environmental law with a firm called Davis & Company. He served as President of the Law Society of the Northwest Territories. From 1991 to 2004, he was a professor at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

Faculty of Law. Searle was named to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

in 1999 as a Member. Searle retired in August 2006.

Political career

Searle was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly, or Legislative Council of the Northwest Territories (with Northwest hyphenated as North-West until 1906), is the legislature and the seat of government of Northwest Territories in Canada. It is a uni ...

in the

1967 Northwest Territories general election The 1967 Northwest Territories general election took place on July 4, 1967. Tragedy would ensue after this election as member-elect Bill Berg died in a plane crash while flying into Yellowknife on October 1, only a few days before the new council ...

; he served the riding of

Mackenzie North Mackenzie North is a former territorial electoral district, that elected Members to the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly. Mackenzie North covered the communities of Yellowknife, Bathurst Inlet, Fort Providence, Fort Rae, Snare River, Out ...

. In his first term in office he was at the press conference to unveil the current Northwest Territories flag on January 31, 1969. He was re-elected to his second term in office for the new district of

Keewatin North Keewatin is a Cree word meaning "Blizzard of the North" and can refer to the following: __NOTOC__ Places Canada * Keewatin, Ontario, a town amalgamated with the towns of Kenora and Jaffray Melick to form Kenora * District of Keewatin, Northwest T ...

after redistribution for the

1970 Northwest Territories general election The 1970 Northwest Territories general election took place on December 21, 1970. It took place during the centennial of the territory. Among the festivities earlier in the year was an official visit by Queen Elizabeth II to open the first Arctic W ...

. Searle ran for a third term in the

1975 Northwest Territories general election The 1975 Northwest Territories general election was on March 10, 1975. This was the first general election since 1902 that all the members of the assembly were elected. Fifteen members were elected to the Legislative Council. Election summary Mem ...

, this time in the new district of

Yellowknife South Yellowknife South is a territorial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is one of seven districts that represent Yellowknife Yellowknife (; Dogrib: ) is the capital, largest community, and ...

after a much larger redistribution of the ridings. He was re-elected and on May 1, 1975 became the first elected

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is a title commonly held by presiding officers of parliamentary bodies styled legislative assemblies. The office is most widely used in state and territorial legislatures in Australia, and in provincial and ter ...

since Archibald Beaton Gillis in 1905. Searle ran in the

1979 Canadian federal election The 1979 Canadian federal election was held on May 22, 1979, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of the Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Mini ...

Western Arctic Northwest Territories (french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest) is a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada. The electoral district covers the entire territory. This riding was created in 1962 from Mackenzie River ...

as the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate, finishing a close second to

Dave Nickerson Dave Nickerson (born April 30, 1944) is a Canadian politician from Northwest Territories, Canada. Before politics In 1965, Nickerson arrived in the Northwest Territories and worked at the Discovery and Giant Mines. He then left this position to ...

of the Progressive Conservatives.

References

External links

David Searle unveiling the new flagThe Snowshoe Volume 13 Issue 1 January 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Searle, David 1936 births 2021 deaths Candidates in the 1979 Canadian federal election Liberal Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories Members of the Order of Canada People from Yellowknife Politicians from Edmonton Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories