Showing 20 results

David Harry Searle was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1936. He moved to Yellowknife in 1946 where his father worked for Con Mine. Searle was educated in the Yellowknife public school system. During his high school years, he worked summer jobs at Con Mine.

Searle attended the University of Alberta and earned degrees in history and law (1961). As a young man, joined the Canadian Officers Training Corps and served in the Royal Canadian Army reserve as a military policeman.

David Searle returned to Yellowknife and, in 1963, co-founded the law firm de Weerdt Searle with Mark de Weerdt. Searle was the founding President of the Law Society of the Northwest Territories in 1978. He practiced law in the NWT until 1981.

While practicing law, Searle was also involved in politics in the NWT. First elected to the Northwest Territories Council in 1967 in the riding of Mackenzie North, Searle was elected again in 1970 and 1975 for the riding of Yellowknife South. From 1975 to 1979, he served at the Speaker of the House, and as such was the first Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. Searle ran for federal politics in 1979 but narrowly lost.

David Searle was the first President of Scouts Canada in the NWT and played a large role in the scouting community in the north. Searle also served on a number of other boards during his time in the north.

David Searle and his family moved to Vancouver in 1981, where Searle continued to practice law until his retirement in 2006. He was an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia (Faculty of Law) from 1991 to 2004. In the 1990s, Searle also played a role in the corporate world, where he served as a lawyer during the development of diamond mines in the NWT.

In 2000, Searle was awarded the Order of Canada for his roles in government, law, and with Scouts Canada during his time in the north.

David Searle married Dorelle Edna Parsons and they had two children, Marc and Kristi. Following Dorelle’s death in 1994, Searle married Celia Stock in 2000.

David Searle died March 1, 2021, aged 84, in Saanich, British Columbia.

On March 21 1974, Mr. Justice T.R. Berger was appointed by the government of Canada to conduct an inquiry and report on the terms and conditions that ought to be imposed on a proposed Mackenzie Valley Pipeline. Berger's first action was to visit communities up and down the Mackenzie River and over the mountains to the Yukon Territory, in order to meet the people whose lives he was going to inquire into. It was a 10,000-mile trip by helicopter, canoe, jet and bush plane that took Berger to Tuktoyaktuk, Aklavik, Fort McPherson and almost all of the 27 communities that would be affected in some way by the proposed pipeline. The inquiry commenced with preliminary hearings in Yellowknife, Inuvik, Whitehorse and Ottawa in April and May 1974. The formal hearings began in March 1975 and lasted until November 1976. Community hearings were also held in the Northwest Territories and almost all of the provinces between April 1975 and August 1976. Mr. Justice Berger's report was submitted to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in 1977.

K.W. Phillips was an aircraft maintenance engineer in the RCMP Air Division stationed in Ottawa.

Initially, William Hoare left Ottawa for Herschel Island to act for the Anglican Church as a missionary. He returned after five years and married Catherine Cowan, who had been training to be a nurse in Ottawa. In 1920 they traveled to Aklavik, where they were to establish an Anglican mission. The couple remained in the north until 1931, with William Hoare eventually working for the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (R.C.M.P.) until 1931, when they returned to Ottawa.

The Department of Social Services was established in 1978 when the Department of Health and Social Services was split to form two distinct departments.

The Department of Social Services was responsible for promoting, improving and preserving the social well being of the residents of the Northwest Territories. The department provided services directly to individuals and families and supported the delivery of services through community-based organizations and agencies. Community Social Services Workers were placed in most communities and provided financial assistance assessments, investigated complaints of child neglect and abuse, supervised probationers and parolees and provided counseling to children and adults. The department assisted groups in organizing and providing services to the aged and handicapped, operated child care facilities, adult and youth correctional centres and homes for handicapped and elderly persons requiring assistance. In addition, funding was provided for foster homes and home support services to enable residents to remain in their homes as long as possible. Awareness programs and training were offered in the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse, domestic abuse and child abuse.

The Administration Activity was responsible for developing, coordinating and managing the delivery of services related to child welfare, special services, financial assistance services, alcohol and drug programs, institutional and community corrections services and programs for the elderly and disabled in Yellowknife and within the communities. This Activity provided the funds for all staff within these programs, except those working in institutional settings. As the Department of Social Services evolved, this activity became responsible for development of policies and management of the department to ensure consistent application of policy, programs, standards and procedures throughout the Northwest Territories. In 1988, this activity was renamed the Directorate; it consisted of the Deputy Minister's Office, the Policy and Planning and Finance and Administration Support Divisions, the Regional Superintendents and their support staff, and Community Social Service Workers located in the communities throughout the Northwest Territories. The Directorate was also responsible for the delivery of the Youth Initiatives Program that assisted community groups that were interested in developing youth leadership programs, drug and alcohol prevention programs and educational and counseling programs.

The Corrections Activity was comprised of institutional corrections programs and community-based corrections programs. The institutional corrections programs provided custody, supervision and rehabilitative treatment to persons sentenced to jail terms in the Northwest Territories. Wilderness programs, education and life skills training were offered within the correctional facility that provided inmates with skills appropriate to the north that would encourage self-reliance and responsibility. The institutional corrections programs also provided probation, parole services and offered programs to help offenders adjust to community life after their release. The community-based corrections programs provided an alternative to incarceration for the offender and offered greater public protection through crime deterrence and offender rehabilitation. The Fine Options program for example, enabled persons who could not pay fines to do community service as a substitute. The Victim/Offender conciliation program was another program administered by community agencies through service contracts. Staff training and a Correctional Officer training program, geared towards aboriginal northerners, was also offered through this activity. Community service, restitution and work programs were other major programs delivered by this division. The Corrections Division was involved with the upgrading of correctional facilities, as well as the construction and opening of facilities within the communities, such as the South Mackenzie Correctional Centre and Baffin Correctional Centre. Corrections Services were also responsible for developing crime prevention programs in the communities of the Northwest Territories. In 1988-89, the Correction Services Activity expanded to include a Custody and Community Corrections program for Young Offenders. Emphasis was placed on improving educational and life skills programming within the already established young offender facilities, as well as constructing two permanent facilities in Iqaluit and Yellowknife. The division continued to emphasize alternatives to institutional care for young offenders through measures administered by Youth Justice Committees that utilized community resources such as probation services and community service orders. In 1993-94, the Department of Justice assumed the responsibility for Corrections Services.

The Family and Children's Services Activity was responsible for providing services relating to Child Welfare, Child Day Care, Child Sexual Abuse and Family Violence Prevention. The activity provided substitute care for children in the custody of Child Welfare, under the Child Welfare Ordinance or Juvenile Delinquent Act. Substitute care resources included adoptive homes, foster homes and group homes. Receiving home facilities such as Trailcross and River Ridge (Fort Smith) provided assessment and treatment services for adolescents; Northern Lights (Inuvik) and the Yellowknife Receiving Home provided group home treatment and family crisis services. The Family and Children's Services Activity emphasized community involvement in responding to child welfare needs and workshops and programs were offered in order facilitate that involvement. In 1981, the Hay River and Fort Providence Dene bands, with assistance from the Department of Social Services, successfully organized and operated three summer camps for young people in order to prevent young people to from coming into conflict with the law. The camps were then used as bases for fall and winter trapping activities in which juvenile offenders would be under the supervision of experienced trappers and hunters. The activity evaluated programs and facilities and offered training programs to staff in dealing with behavioral and emotional problems of children and families. This activity developed a childcare diploma program that was delivered by Arctic College in 1987. Family and Children Services also became involved with custom, private, departmental and international adoptions in the late 1980's. When the Child Day Care Facilities Act and Regulations came into effect in 1988, this activity assisted child day care facilities in becoming licensed and then was responsible for inspecting and monitoring day care centres throughout the Northwest Territories. The day care program also administered grants and contributions to licensed day care operators and offered training assistance to day care staff. In 1986-87, a Spousal Assault Service was introduced to the Department of Social Services and joined the Family and Children's Services Activity in 1988. The primary function of this activity was to develop family violence programs that would encourage and enable families and communities to help themselves and to provide safety and assistance for those living with violence. Community crisis centres were developed, as well as, shelter programs and counseling services for assault victims and for the batterers.

In 1980, the Services to the Aged and Handicapped Activity was added to the Department of Social Services. This activity provided funds and guidance to purchase and provide services to assist the elderly and disabled people to maintain themselves in their own home or community. Coordinated home care programs such as protective visiting, the delivery of meals and home nursing services were delivered through cooperation from hospitals. Studies and need assessments were conducted to determine the needs of handicapped people and elderly people in the north. This activity was responsible for a wide range of personal, community and residential services for the aged and handicapped. This involved the development of appropriate standards and policies, as well as planning services and constructing facilities.

Financial Assistance Services, formerly known as Income Maintenance (1978-79), provided social assistance, supplementary benefits to recipients of Old Age Security plus the Guaranteed Income Supplement and provided financial assistance for payment of non-insured health services for persons who were unable to pay the cost. This activity also identified the various types of interventions and counseling that were offered by the department in order to develop self-support and problem solving to those in need. Community Social Service workers provided counseling in order to teach life skills and promote self-support. In 1988-89, this activity joined with the Aged and Handicapped Services to form Community and Family Support Services.

The Community and Family Support Services Division provided services and financial assistance to the aged and handicapped persons and to individuals and families in financial need. This division also facilitated and monitored the transfer of social services programs and services to local governments under the Government of the Northwest Territories Transfer Policy. The Financial Assistance service within this division provided financial support to persons requiring assistance in meeting their basic needs, day care subsidies to parents and supplementary benefits to qualified northern recipients of Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement and the Senior Citizen Supplementary Benefit Act. The division also provided information and assisted community and band councils interested in assuming increased responsibility for program delivery. The division processed and approved applications for rehabilitation programs and provided for an appeal process. Through an employment enhancement program that was cost shared with the federal government, recipients of social assistance were placed in job training programs for guiding, outfitting, tool making, carving, skin preparation, sewing and academic upgrading.

In 1981-82, the Alcohol and Drug Service was added to the Department of Social Services. This activity provided contribution funding to support community-based alcohol and drug projects in order to combat alcohol and drug abuse in the Northwest Territories. The division assisted in the development and delivery of staff training programs for local people that would enable them to work in projects within their home communities. The Alcohol and Drug Service provided administrative services to the Alcohol and Drug Coordinating Council, which included assessment of funding applications and project evaluations. The Alcohol and Drug Coordinating Council employed staff who offered education, counseling and rehabilitation services to community residents. The Alcohol and Drug Coordinating Council also acted as the Regional Advisory Board for the federal National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program. Other major program areas included community education and in-school programs that were designed to increase public awareness of impaired driving and fetal alcohol syndrome. Alcohol Awareness Week was coordinated in conjunction with the Departments of Education and Health and a youth alcohol and drug prevention program was delivered by this activity. Consultative and counseling services were also provided to governmental employees through liaison with the Department of Personnel.

In 1988-89, the activity was renamed the Alcohol, Drug and Community Mental Health Activity. The activity was responsible for facilitating the transfer of community based mental health services and the National Native Alcohol and Drug Abuse Program from the federal government. Emphasis continued to be the development of programs that prevented alcohol, drug and mental health programs at the community level. The Community Mental Health Programs consisted of regional specialists who provided advice, guidance and support to community groups who wished to take an active role in the prevention and treatment of mental health programs. These specialists also provided counseling and crisis intervention services. The Clinical Assessment and Treatment Services provided a team of children's mental health specialists who were available to travel to communities upon request of regional centres. The specialist provided assessments, diagnosis, consultation and treatment for children and adolescents with emotional, behavioural and psychological problems. Between 1990-1991, a Suicide Prevention Program was added to this activity. Work on developing a northern suicide prevention-training curriculum began in Baker Lake, Coppermine, Iqaluit, Fort Smith, Inuvik, Fort Simpson and Yellowknife, which assisted community groups in educating the public about suicide prevention. This activity also provided psychological services to correctional centres.

In 1995, the Department of Social Services and the Department of Health were consolidated to form a single department called the Department of Health and Social Services.

The Department of Social Development was created in 1967 when the Government of the Northwest Territories was centralized in Yellowknife. The mandate of the Department was to provide social and health care services to Territorial residents. Originally, the Department had three divisions: Alcohol Education Program, Corrections Service and Probation Service. In 1969 the Probation Service was included in the scope of Corrections Services Division. Child Welfare, Medical Social Services and Rehabilitation, Social Assistance and Categorical Allowances were also added to the Department. Medical Social Services and Rehabilitation focused on the problems associated with illness and hospitalization as well as the special needs of aged, disabled and infirm. Correctional Services oversaw probation services, correctional institutions such as the Yellowknife Correctional Institution and the Baffin Correctional Centre in Frobisher Bay, the Correctional Camp until its closure in 1973, and the Juvenile Training Centre in Forth Smith. The Alcohol Education Program focused on individual counseling, referral and education, as well as broad-base community work on finding long-range answers to drug abuse problems. In 1970, Categorical Allowances was renamed Blindness and Disability Allowances. Child Welfare was created in 1970 due to the Jubinville Committee’s major recommendations; one of which was to integrate juvenile delinquency services with child welfare. In 1971, Health Insurance Services was transferred from the Territorial Secretary. HIS was responsible for carrying out the requirements of the Territorial Hospital Insurance Ordinance and the Medical Care Ordinance, both implemented in 1971. This enabled budgetary and funding changes for Territorial hospitals. Additionally, the Health Care Plan was created to provide health services for all Territorial residents. In 1972 Medical Social Services became Medical Social Services and Special Care. In 1973 the Department created the Community Social Services division. In 1974 the Alcohol and Drug Program was responsible for the Alcohol and Drug Co-ordinating Council, but did not list it as a responsibility past that year. In 1975 the blanket Special Services Division was created to manage the development, maintenance and coordination of community based social services in its divisions of Child Welfare, Juvenile Probation, Day Care, Homemaker Services, and Aged and Handicapped Services. By 1976 it only listed its divisions as being Child Welfare and Aged and Handicapped Services. In September 1977 the Department was renamed Health and Social Services.

Poole Field was a trader, trapper and prospector in the Yukon and Nahanni Butte region. He was born near Regina in approximately 1880. He joined the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP) as a young man and transferred to the Yukon during the gold rush in the late 1890s. After three years, Field left the RNWMP and went to Alaska for about five years. He returned to the Yukon and during this time, he met and married Mary Atkinson (nee Lafferty). Field made at least one trip into the Nahanni region in 1905 but returned to the Yukon. Mary and Poole moved to the Nahanni Butte region in approximately 1914 after coming into the possession of a letter written by Martin Jorgenson claiming he had found gold. In 1915 or 1916, Field and his companions found the remains of Jorgenson at his burned cabin near Virginia Falls. According to Dick Turner, author of the book "Nahanni", Field spoke Cree and Slavey fluently and was an excellent woodsman. In approximately 1924, Field began operating as an independent trader and ran a store at Trout Lake for three years before returning to Nahanni Butte where he operated an independent trading post from 1928 to about 1935. In the 1940s, Field worked as a river pilot during the summer and trapped during the winter seasons.

Nicholas (Nick) George Sibbeston was born in Fort Simpson on November 21, 1943. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, he returned to Fort Simpson as the hamlet secretary-manager. From 1970-1974, he was a member of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly after which he attended law school at the University of Alberta. He completed his degree in 1975 becoming the first northern lawyer born in the Northwest Territories. Nick Sibbeston was re-elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1979 and he served in a number of portfolios including Government Leader (1985-1987), Minister of Economic Development and Tourism, Culture and Communications (1986-1987), Aboriginal Rights and Constitutional Development (1984-1987), Intergovernmental Affairs (1985-1987), Local Government (1984-1985) and the Northwest Territories Science Institute (1987-1988). He was also chairman of the Western Constitutional Forum, the group negotiating for the new western territory to be created upon the division of the Northwest Territories in 1999. He resigned from the Legislative Assembly in 1991 in order to continue his law practice.

Mark Murray de Weerdt was born in Cologne, Germany in 1928, but was a Belgian national at birth by virtue of his parent’s nationality. His family emigrated to Belgium in 1933 and then moved to Scotland in 1935 where Mark de Weerdt spent most of his childhood. After immigrating to Canada in 1949 with his parents and siblings, he completed his post-secondary education in British Columbia. His early career included stints with both the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the federal justice department in Ottawa. He married Anne Hadwen in 1956 with whom he had four sons. Anne studied occupational therapy and physiotherapy.

Mark de Weerdt relocated to Yellowknife in 1958, just two years after completing his law degree from the University of British Columbia. Upon his arrival, he discovered that he was one of only two lawyers in town. He undertook to complete the unfinished work of the Honourable John Parker, who had recently been appointed as a judge of the Territorial Court. In due course, Mark de Weerdt was sworn in by Justice J.H. Sissons. He later accepted the appointment to the position of Crown Attorney for the Northwest Territories and Agent for the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of Canada. As a member of Judge Sissons' circuit court, Mark de Weerdt journeyed to the remote communities of the Northwest Territories. These trips into small villages, provided him with a glimpse into the daily lives of the indigenous population, and the opportunity participate in cases involving both affiliates of northern Canada’s diverse aboriginal population and non-aboriginal residents.

In addition to the Crown work, Mark de Weerdt assumed a growing case load of other work, including document preparation and advisory services. He left his own legal firm in 1971 to become Magistrate and Juvenile Court Judge for the NWT. He held that position until 1973. In 1974 he joined the Legal Division of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia in Vancouver where he remained until 1976. He rejoined the federal justice department’s Vancouver office in 1976 and remained with federal Department of Justice in Vancouver until 1981,

Mark de Weerdt returned to the Northwest Territories in 1981 when he was appointed as a Judge in the Supreme Court for the Northwest Territories. During his time on the Supreme Court, Mark de Weerdt presided over many cases including the first degree murder trial that followed the Giant Mine explosion that resulted in the deaths of nine men. He remained in that position until his retirement in 1996. At that time he and his wife Anne returned to Vancouver, British Columbia.
Mark de Weerdt died in September of 2003.

Cyril Nordheimer Kenny "Nordie" Kirk was born September 16, 1911 in Toronto, Ontario. Having joined the RCMP in 1934, Nordie Kirk was Sub-Inspector (1943) and Inspector (1944) aboard the Hudson Bay Company supply ship the R.M.S. "Nascopie" on its annual resupply trips in the Eastern Arctic. Inspector Kirk's responsibilities included inspecting northern RCMP detachments and their personnel, and acting as Coroner in criminal investigations in the Eastern Arctic. Communities visited during these times included Churchill, Southampton Island, Chesterfield Inlet, Lake Harbour, Pangnirtung, Clyde River, Pond Inlet, Arctic Bay and Fort Ross.

In May 1945 Nordie married Leona Esima Marie Shank-Boileau (b. September 23, 1917, Cache Bay, ON) in Ottawa Ontario. In June 1945 they traveled the Mackenzie river aboard the S.S. Distributor to Aklavik, where Nordie Kirk became the Officer in Charge of the RCMP Sub-Division there from July 1945 to July 1948.

As Officer in Charge, OC Kirk carried out patrols in Aklavik, Arctic Red River (now Tsiigehtchic), Fort McPherson, Tuktoyaktuk, Herchel Island, and Old Crow. Many duties were performed on behalf of other federal government departments such as registrar of vital statistics, mining recorder, customs collector and distribution of government allowances. Besides conducting investigations and reports, detachment duties such as hauling ice for water, splitting wood for stoves, fishing for dog food, painting buildings, and maintaining boats and motors occupied Nordie's time. Leona, as the wife of an RCMP officer, met and entertained a wide variety of people from all walks of life. Visiting the Anglican Mission, Signals Corp. gatherings and parties at Peffer’s Store/Restaurant were social highlights in Aklavik.In July 1946, Leona's sister Cpl. (Canadian Women’s Army Corp.) Yvette Boileau (now Park) visited them for a month. In 1947 Leona was flown to Ottawa via Norman Wells, Edmonton, and Toronto for the birth of their child Brian in Ottawa, ON.

In July 1948 Nordie was posted to the RCMP Sub-Division in Dauphin, MB, and the family moved from Aklavik, ending their time in the North. C.N.K. "Nordie" Kirk continued a successful career in the RCMP, achieving the rank of Assistant Commissioner. He retired from the RCMP in 1969 with 35 years maximum service, and had a second career for ten years in the Federal civil service. He died on May 26, 1981 in Ottawa. Leona Kirk remained active in several service and recreation clubs in the Ottawa region, including the Ottawa Ladies Curling Club, the Eastern Ontario Ladies Curling Association, the RCMP Veterans Association and the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club until her death in Ottawa on June 29, 2006.

John D. Nicholson was born in Provincetown, Massachusetts in 1863. In 1885, he joined the North West Mounted Police and was stationed in Regina. Following his initial training, he was sent to Edmonton. As a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Officer, he was stationed in a number of locations including Battleford and Fort McLeod. In 1916, his station with the RCMP was taken over by the newly formed Alberta Provincial Police, whom he served with until his retirement in 1927. In 1929, his attention was directed toward the mineral surveying and prospecting industry in northern Canada and he accepted the position of Field Manager with the Mineral Belt Locators Syndicate. Following the discovery of pitchblende in the Great Bear Lake area in 1931, John Nicholson organized the Camsell River Mineral Syndicate. Using a large fishing boat and barge, he transported goods to and from prospecting camps and occasionally sold his services for information concerning possible discoveries. In 1934 W.G. "Bill" Stewart took a half interest in another barge and joined Nicholson in his transport and prospecting endeavors. He continued to work in the Great Bear Lake region until the discovery of gold near the Yellowknife River attracted him to Yellowknife. With the onset of World War II in 1939, John Nicholson rejoined the RCMP.

The Task Force on Personnel Policy and Management was established in November of 1973 by the Commissioner. Its mandate was to evaluate the efficiency of the Territorial Government's administration. The Task Force was lead by Assistant Commissioner Ewan M.R. Cotterill. Participation of the members of the civil service was encouraged via a letter from the Commissioner asking for input on all aspect of organization and personnel management. The responses received formed the basis of the report of the task force and it was presented to the Commissioner in August 1974. The Executive Committee subsequently released a report based upon the nineteen recommendations of the August 1974 report. The Commissioner released his final report on the matter in 1976. One outcome of the work of the Task Force was creation of a new classification system and the re-classification of all positions.

In 1953, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Corporal Clare J. Dent was the N.C.O. I/C at the Baker Lake detachment. He later became the Superintendent in charge of "G" Division, Criminal Investigation Branch.

In 1967, a Royal Commission, authorized under The Inquiries Act, Part One, investigated and reported on the administration of justice in the Hay River area. The investigation was authorized following allegations that not all individuals were receiving equal treatment in the courts, that the courts were not open to the public and that the press was being censured on matters concerning the proceedings in the courts. The Commissioner for the inquiry was the Honourable W.G. Morrow.

In 1965, on the recommendation of the Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources, the Committee of the Privy Council, via Order in Council 1005, established the Advisory Commission on the Development of Government in the Northwest Territories. The Commission headed by A.W.R. Carrothers, was commonly referred to as the Carrothers' Commission. The mandate of the Commission was to consider the political development of the Northwest Territories and to advise the Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources via a report. In 1966, after holding hearings in northern communities, the three-member commission recommended that the issue of dividing the Northwest Territories be further examined in 10 years.

John U. Bayly was born on April 20, 1945 in Toronto, Ontario. He has enjoyed a long and varied career in the North and worked as both a Crown Attorney and private counsel in the communities of Kuujjuarapik or Great Whale River (Quebec), Rankin Inlet, Inuvik and Yellowknife. He was the founding partner of what later became Bayly Williams where he practiced between 1983-2000. Between 1984 and May 1985, Mr. Bayly chaired the NWT government's Task Force on Spousal Assault. Between 1981-1987, he served as Counsel and Negotiator for the Dene/Metis Land Claim Agreement-in-Principle. He served as the first Executive Director for the Legal Services Board of the NWT and was responsible for the delivery of legal aid public legal education and services throughout the NWT. In 1990, John U. Bayly was retained as Inquiry Counsel for a Judicial Inquiry into the conduct of Judge R.M. Bourassa (the Bourassa Inquiry). The inquiry was established following public outcry to remarks attributed to Judge Bourassa in a 1989 Edmonton Journal article suggesting that sexual assault among northern natives was less violent than in the south. Mr. Bayly was also a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Public Complaints Commission for 12 years and he has represented a variety of aboriginal peoples organizations, including the Dene Nation, Committee for Original People's Entitlement (COPE), Inuit Tapirisat and Nunavut Tungavik Incorporated (NTI). Before there was a Law Society of the Northwest Territories, Mr. Bayly was the president of the NWT Bar Association for two years. He has been an active member of the Law Society of the Northwest Territories since 1978 and for 21 years he was the Chairman of its Discipline Committee. He is also a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada and the Law Society of Nunavut, the Canadian Bar Association and a director of the International Commission on Folk Law and Legal Pluralism. He is a past chairman of the Denendeh Conservation Board (1988-1991), a past member of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (1988-1991) and the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee (1986-1989). Mr. Bayly served for seven years as the Chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of the Arctic. In March 2000, he was appointed to the position of Principal Secretary for the Government of the Northwest Territories. John Bayly died in Yellowknife February 17, 2004.

John Anderson Thomson was born on April 30, 1900 in Glengairn, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He served in the Royal Flying Corps. during World War I, joining in 1917 at the age of 16. After being wounded and spending time in recovery, John immigrated to Canada in 1920, settling in Unity, Saskatchewan. He spent the next several years farming sheep and teaching school. In 1926, John returned to Scotland and married Janet Paterson, from Braemar, who had been born June 18, 1902. The Thomsons returned to Saskatchewan after their marriage. In the 1930s, John attended the University of Saskatchewan and in 1934 was a student assistant with the Geological Survey of Canada in the Arctic. In 1936, he graduated with a degree in geological engineering. John worked at the De Santis Gold Mine in Timmins, Ontario from 1937 to 1941 as geologist, mine engineer, and mine superintendent. From 1941 to 1942 he was Chief Engineer at Delnite Gold Mine, also in Timmins.
John served as an RCAF navigation instructor in Manitoba during WWII, from 1942 to 1944. On April 6, 1944, while still in uniform, he arrived in the north, employed by the General Engineering Company of Canada as a field engineer and geologist. Janet followed soon after. General Engineering had a contract to evaluate the mining properties of Yellowknife Gold Mines and Yellowknife Bear Mines. By 1946, General Engineering was no longer active in Yellowknife, but John decided to stay, gaining a contract with Negus Mines. Together with J. A. Buchanan, Dominion Land Surveyor (DLS) of Edmonton, he formed Thomson & Buchanan Engineers, Geologists and Surveyors. John articled under Buchanan and earned his own DLS commission in 1956. John also filled in as Mine Superintendent at Negus in 1949 when the regular superintendent was on leave.
John’s surveying and geological investigation work took him all over the Northwest Territories and what became Nunavut, to mining claims, communities, and larger centres such as Fort Smith, Fort Simpson, Hay River, Iqaluit, and Yellowknife. His work included water and sewer main layouts, roads, power line rights-of-way, lot and block surveys, site certificates, legal mineral claim surveys, and surveys for mining companies. John undertook many significant surveys over the years, including surveying the power line from the Discovery Mine to Bluefish Hydro, laying out the route of the Mackenzie Highway proposed by the Federal Government in 1947 and suggesting a better route, doing DEW line surveys and laying out airstrips in 1954, finding river crossings for a pipeline from Alaska to Alberta in 1969 (not constructed), surveying a pipeline from Norman Wells to Zama pipeline in 1979, and surveying and investigating the Slave River as part of a hydro feasibility study.
When John broke his knee-cap in the spring of 1958 and was unable to do fieldwork for the rest of the season, he took the opportunity to teach geology and surveying at the University of Saskatchewan. From 1958 to 1966, John spent summers doing field work in the north and winters teaching in Saskatoon and drafting plans. This winter/summer transition led to the Anderson-Thomson being the first travellers on the unfinished highway between Fort Providence and Yellowknife when they left too late in the season to bring their vehicle back to Yellowknife by ice road.
John Anderson-Thomson’s business was run under the banner of “Thomson and Buchanan” for a number of years, then as “John Anderson-Thomson”, and “John Anderson-Thomson Engineering & Surveying Ltd.” as of April 30, 1976. After working in cooperation with Underwood McLellan Associates, out of Edmonton, for a few years in the late 1970s, John Anderson-Thomson officially sold his business to them as of December 31, 1981 and retired from official practice in 1982, although he remained on retainer as a consultant. The name of the Yellowknife business became Thomson Underwood McLellan Surveys Ltd.
John was involved with a number of organizations and had many interests outside of his business. The Yellowknife Branch of the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy was established at the Anderson-Thomson house in 1945. John was also a member of the Saskatchewan Land Surveyors’ Association, Canadian Institute of Surveying, Association of Professional Engineers of Saskatchewan, and Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of the NWT. John received a Canadian Engineers’ Gold Medal Award from the Canadian Association of Professional Engineers in 1983.
In 1952, John assumed command of the No. 7 Company Canadian Rangers, on the request of the Governor General, Lord Alexander of Tunis. The Rangers participated in Exercise Bulldog III, a scenario to defend Yellowknife, in 1954, with great success. In 1954, he was appointed as Magistrate and Justice of the Peace, a position he held for the next 22 years. He earned himself the reputation of being a “hanging judge”, but received a special award from the RCMP at the end of his service. In 1959, John was invited to join the Royal Commission to determine the route for the Great Slave Lake railway from Pine Point to the current end of steel in Alberta. One of three commissioners, his minority report in favour of the western route, managed to convince Prime Minister Diefenbaker.
John also had a founding role in the layout of the Yellowknife Golf Course in 1947 and was a member for several years. He was also enjoyed shooting and curling.
Janet Anderson-Thomson was also influential, assisting John in his work, designing the NWT tartan, and accompanying the junior and senior choirs at Holy Trinity Anglican Church. Avid supporters of the NWT Pipe Band, the Anderson-Thomsons were given honourary membership in 1979. John and Janet were also joint recipients of the Commissioner’s Award for public service in the NWT in 1975.
Janet Anderson-Thomson died 1983. John passed away two years later on September 15, 1985 at his daughter’s home in Ontario. Their two daughters, Mary and Myrtle were each already married and had families of their own in Ontario.

The Arctic Public Legal Education and Information Society (Arctic PLEI) was established in 1987. It was a non-government organization formed to assist people of the Northwest Territories to become more aware of the law and the legal system, and how to use it more effectively. The organization's programs aimed to reduce and prevent legal problems, increase people's knowledge about the law, the legal process and the justice system and encourage people to protect their rights by understanding the laws that affect them in their everyday lives in areas such as social services, assault, theft and labour. Arctic PLEI provided the public with an opportunity to access free legal advice by coordinating a toll free phone line, produced printed information (in English and Inuktitut) about the law aimed at the general public, produced videos and audio cassettes for use by schools and community groups, visited schools and community groups and held workshops on law-related topics based on needs identified by communities. Workshops were hosted on such topics as family violence, court procedures, women's rights and youth and the law. The organization formerly dissolved in 1996.

B.C. "Bart" Hawkins was born at Harrow, Ontario on June 30, 1933. He joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on January 14, 1952. Following training in Ottawa and Regina, he was posted to Vegreville, Alberta. While in Vegreville, he applied for northern duty and was transferred to Yellowknife on May 22, 1954. In December 1956, he was transferred to Port Radium as I/C (in charge) where he remained until July 1957.

On July 17, 1957, he married Catherine Marshall, who had been a nurse at the Yellowknife hospital. Following his marriage to Catherine, he was transferred as a married Constable to Fort Simpson, where he served from July 1957 until his transfer to Fort Liard in June 1958. In August 1958, Mr. Hawkins was posted to Hay River where his wife was ill in the Hay River Hospital. Following the death of his wife, he was granted compassionate transfer to Regina, Saskatchewan in order to better care for his infant son, Bruce Carlisle.

On September 17, 1960, he married Jean Baker and was subsequently transferred to several RCMP detachments in Saskatchewan. On december 26, 1961 his second son, Bradley Drew was born. He was promoted to Corporal in October 1962 and on May 12, 1964 returned to the NWT with a posting in Arctic Red River as I/C. Following the closure of the school in the fall of 1964, he was transferred to Fort Normanas I/C. He was transferred to Whitehorse, Yukon in July 1966, to Aklavik as I/C in April 1967, and returned to Whitehorse in June 1970. While in Whitehorse, he was promoted to Sergeant.

On July 17, 1971, he departed the north for Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba as I/C. He was subsequently transferred to Winnipeg General Investigation Section as second I/C. In August 1975, he was transferred to Brandon Sub Division West Section NCO and promoted to Staff Seargent. He remained in Brandon until his retirement from the RCMP on October 31, 1983. He accepted the position of Chief of Police of the Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council Police Force, which he held until his retirement in December 1988.

The North-West Mounted Police (the precursor of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) formed in 1873 to control Canada's newly acquired western lands. Their work was confined to the Prairies for the first quarter century because that was where most of the white population was to be found. It was the discovery of gold in the Yukon that led to the movement north of Edmonton. In 1897, the North-West Mounted Police made its first patrol "north of sixty." From Dawson City, the patrols extended northwards to the Mackenzie Delta. Eventually police posts were established at Fort McPherson in 1903, Arctic Red River in 1926, and Aklavik in 1927. The Arctic Red River Post closed in 1969. In 1920, the North-West Mounted Police was amalgamated with the Dominion Police Force to form the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The duties of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the Northwest Territories extended far beyond normal police work. Police work was limited for most of the time to registering firearms, arbitrating disputes about trap lines, and routine patrols of the district. On behalf of the Federal Government, the police issued licenses for many trading activities and collected the fees. These included trapping, hunting, trading and trafficking, trading post and timber licenses. The police also administered the income tax and fur export tax, collecting the revenues and issuing receipts. The records of births, marriages and deaths were collected and marriage licenses issued by the police. While on patrol they checked for cases of destitution or illness and made the necessary arrangements. They controlled the use of liquor permits in the Territories and issued licenses for radio receiving sets. Any government department, which operated in the Territories, used the RCMP as its local agents. In addition, they were expected to assist any northern research project. They recorded earthquakes, the prevalence of biting insects and the number of wild animals in their area. Explorers and scientists visiting the Arctic were also able to call for their assistance.