Governance in Canada’s Northwest Territories: Emerging Institutions and Governance Issues

This paper provides an overview of government institutions and key governance issues in the Northwest Territories (NWT),Canada.It is based on the author’s PhD fieldwork research, and close to a decade of experience working for Indigenous governments in the NWT on self government and related political development processes. It begins with a description of conceptual categories used throughout. This is followed by a brief sketch of the major institutional regimes structuring governmental authority and governance responsibilities in the NWT. Governance challenges are then described, followed by a concluding section offering questions for consideration in discussions of Circumpolar Governance.