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The 1st North-West Legislative Assembly lasted from 1888 to 1891. This Assembly was the third in the history of the Northwest Territories. It marked a huge milestone, bringing responsible government to the territory for the first time.
| 1st Legislature | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Consensus parliament | |||
| c. 1888 – c. 1891 | |||
| Parliament leaders | |||
| First Minister | Robert Brett 30 June 1888 - 7 November 1891 | ||
| Lower House | |||
| Speaker of the Lower House | Herbert Charles Wilson 31 October 1888 - 10 October 1891 | ||
| Members | 25 seats | ||
| Sovereign | |||
| Monarch | Victoria 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901 | ||
| Joseph Royal 4 July 1888 – 31 October 1893 | |||
| Sessions | |||
| 1st session 31 October 1888 – 11 December 1888 | |||
| 2nd session 16 October 1889 – 22 November 1889 | |||
| 3rd session 29 October 1890 – 29 November 1890 | |||
| |||
Background
editThe 1st Northwest Territories Council was dissolved after reaching the quota of elected members prescribed under the Northwest Territories Act. This precipitated the 1888 Northwest Territories general election.
Despite being an elected body, there were three remaining appointed members left to serve in the Assembly. The three appointees were legal advisers; they could actively participate in debates and move motions, but did not have a vote.
1st Session
editThe 1st Session of the 1st North-West Legislative Assembly began on October 31, 1888.[1] The festivities began in the morning, with music provided by the North-West Mounted Police Band.[1] The session began at 3:00pm with Lieutenant Governor Joseph Royal entering the chamber escorted by Mounties.
The Council opened by electing the first speaker in Northwest Territories history. Herbert Charles Wilson was nominated in a motion moved by Hugh Cayley. Wilson was acclaimed with the unanimous consent of the Assembly.[1] The election for speaker was decided in a caucus meeting prior to the opening of the Assembly.[2] There were two candidates for speaker presented. The first vote resulted in an 11 to 11 tie between James Ross and Wilson. Ross asked that his name be withdrawn but his supporters refused. After two more tie votes, Ross withdrew and Wilson was acclaimed as the choice for speaker.[2]
| Lieutenant Governor Advisory Council |
|---|
| Frederick Haultain |
| David Jelly |
| Hilliard Mitchell |
| William Sutherland |
The throne speech outlined five main areas of concern. The first was the need for provisions to deal with and prevent prairie fires. The Lieutenant Governor then called for the repeal of the liquor laws passed by the Temporary North-West Council. The speech also announced the introduction of a bill to provide provisions for collecting vital statistics. Royal also reported on the efforts of his legal committee to consolidate the legislation of the Northwest Territories. The last major portion of the speech outlined the upcoming budgetary estimates to be provided to members from the Lieutenant Governor advisory Council.
Members
editReferences
editFurther reading
edit- Lingard, Charles Cecil (1946). Territorial government in Canada: the autonomy question in the old North-West Territories. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. OCLC 577721800.
- Thomas, Lewis H. (1978). The struggle for responsible government in the North-West Territories, 1870–97 (2nd ed.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-2287-5.
- Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan (2009). "North-West Territories: Council and Legislative Assembly, 1876–1905" (PDF). Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2023-03-30.