Western Arctic is a federal
electoral district and
senate division in
Northwest
Territories
, Canada
, that has
been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since
1979.
It is the
only current electoral district of the territory and is represented
in parliament
by Dennis Bevington
(New Democratic Party) in the
40th Canadian
Parliament.
Demographics
| Population, 2006 |
41,464 |
| Electors |
28,792 |
| Area (km²) |
1,346,106 |
| Population density (people per km²) |
0.03 |
Geography
The district is coterminous with the Northwest Territories.
History
The electoral district was created in 1976 from the
electoral district of
Northwest Territories (1962 - 1976).
When Nunavut
separated
from the NWT in 1999, the boundaries of the riding of Western
Arctic were made coterminous with the new boundaries of the NWT,
with Nunavut being represented by the riding of Nunavut
, formerly Nunatsiaq, which
had represented the eastern half of the former NWT.
Unlike the other two territories, each of which likewise
constitutes one riding, the riding of Western Arctic does not have
the same name as its territory. In 2008, current MP
Dennis Bevington introduced a private
member's bill to rename the riding Northwest Territories. Such
renaming bills are a routine procedure.
Members of Parliament
The riding's first MP was Progressive Conservative MP
David Nickerson who was first elected in
1979 and re-elected
twice. In
the 1988
election, Nickerson was defeated by
Liberal Ethel Blondin-Andrew who went on to
serve as the riding's MP for eighteen years, including two years as
Minister of State for
Northern Development. In 2006, Blondin-Andrew was defeated by
New Democrat Dennis Bevington. The earlier riding of
Northwest Territories had been represented by New Democrat
Wally Firth from 1972 to 1979.
Election results
See also
External links
Wikis
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