The premier of the Northwest Territories is the first minister and head of government for the

Canadian territory Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

of 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. ...

. The premier is the territory's head of government, although the powers of the office are considerably less than those of a provincial premier. Unlike provincial premiers, who are appointed by a

lieutenant-governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

on the basis of their leadership of a majority bloc in the legislature, the premier of the Northwest Territories is elected, along with the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

, by the non-partisan members of the territory's Legislative Assembly, in accordance with the system of consensus government, and then appointed by 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 ...

.Consensus Government
Before 1994, the term "government leader" was officially used instead of "premier," but the title of premier was later retroactively applied to government leaders starting with George Braden in 1980, and had been in informal use for several years, based on the historical precedent set by

Frederick W. A. G. Haultain Sir Frederick William Alpin Gordon Haultain (November 25, 1857 – January 30, 1942) was a lawyer and a long-serving Canadian politician and judge. His career in provincial and territorial legislatures stretched into four decades. He served ...

, who used the title of premier of the North West Territories from 1897 to 1905 . The current premier of the Northwest Territories is Caroline Cochrane, since October 24, 2019.

References

External links

Office of the Premier (Government of the NWT)
{{Northwest Territories politics *

See also

References

External links