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 sw ...

from April 15, 1979 to July 31, 1989. He had previously been Deputy Commissioner of Northwest Territories 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 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 territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the '' Nunavut Act'' and the '' Nunavut Land Claims Agreement 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 cen ...

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 ...

, 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 {{NorthwestTerritories-politician-stub