John Havelock Parker,
OC (February 2, 1929 – March 9, 2020) was the
commissioner of the Northwest Territories
The commissioner of the Northwest Territories (french: Commissaire des Territoires du Nord-Ouest) is the Government of Canada's representative in the Northwest Territories. Similar in certain functions to a lieutenant governor, the commissioner s ...
from April 15, 1979 to July 31, 1989. He had previously been
Deputy Commissioner of Northwest Territories
The Deputy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories Canada. is second to the Commissioner in the hierarchy of Northwest Territories government. The position was created in 1921, and the Deputy Commissioner held a seat in the Legislative Assembly o ...
from 1967 to 1979.
Biography
From 1959 until 1963 he became an alderman for the
Yellowknife town council. In 1963, he became the
mayor of Yellowknife, which he held until February 1967. While serving as mayor he was appointed to the
Carrothers Commission
The Carrothers Commission, formally The Advisory Commission on the Development of Government in the Northwest Territories, was a commission set up by the government of Canada to study the future of government of the Northwest Territories. It was ...
which led to the formation of responsible government in the Northwest Territories and later the division that led to
Nunavut
Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...
.
His later work helped in defining the border between the NWT and Nunavut and his name was given to a protrusion known as
Parker's Notch
Parker's Notch, named after former Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, John Havelock Parker, is a protrusion of the Northwest Territories southwards into Nunavut on Victoria Island. In the Northwest Territories the protrusion is part of th ...
as well as
Parker Line.
In 1986, he was made an Officer of 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 ...
for his "significant contributions to the evolution and development both of the municipal government of
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 ...
and of the territorial government."
Parker died March 9, 2020, in
Sidney, British Columbia
Sidney is a town located at the northern end of the Saanich Peninsula, on Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It's 1 of the 13 Greater Victoria municipalities. It has a population of approximately 11,583. Sidney is l ...
, where he had been living.
References
External links
Government of Northwest Territories past CommissionersJohn Parker fonds. Northwest Territories Archives
1929 births
2020 deaths
Commissioners of the Northwest Territories
Officers of the Order of Canada
Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories
Northwest Territories Deputy Commissioners
Mayors of Yellowknife
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