Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The discovery of gold on the shores of Yellowknife Bay in 1934 spurred a rush of prospectors in the area, and by 1936, Yellowknife was a boomtown. Town sites were established on the Con, Negus and Giant mine sites claims during 1936 and 1937, but Latham Island was the central hub of commerce and support services for prospectors and miners. In 1939, Yellowknife had a population of approximately 1,000 people. At this time, affairs were managed remotely by federal government bodies or the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories supported by a southern-based Territorial Council. The growing amount of activity and congestion in Yellowknife due to the rise of industry created a need for a local government outlet. Under the Northwest Territories Act, the Commissioner was empowered to establish municipal councils in the territories. It was decided that the Territorial Council would exercise their authority to form a municipal government with the power to tax and legislate local by-laws. The Administrative District of Yellowknife was created and the Local Trustee Board was established with two elected members and three appointed members selected by the Northwest Territories Commissioner.
The first election was held on December 5th, 1939. At that time Negus Mine Superintendent John “Jock” McNiven and Consolidated Mine District Manager George Carter were elected to the Trustee Board. The Commissioner of the Northwest Territories appointed businessmen Keith Miller and Otto Thibert. Lawyer John E. Gibben was appointed as the Chairperson of the board. The first meeting of the newly formed Trustee Board took place on January 17th, 1940. At that meeting, Albert F. Totzke was appointed as the Secretary-Treasurer.
The composition of the trustee board was changed in June of 1945, when the Local Trustee Board was expanded to nine members consisting of four appointed members, including a chairman, and three elected members. On April 15th, 1947, an amendment was passed to regulate elections and give further powers to the board. On October 22nd, 1947, a second amendment altered the composition of the board. The amendment provided that five out of nine Trustee Board members were to be elected. In 1950, a further amendment reduced the number of appointed members to three and increased the number of elected members to six.
In 1951 the general Ordinance for Local Administrative Districts was replaced by a Yellowknife Local Administrative District Ordinance. The new ordinance reduced the Trustee Board members to eight, of whom five were to be elected and three appointed by the Commissioner. The District of Yellowknife was re-defined as encompassing all the land within a fifteen mile radius of lot 1, block 2.
In June 1953, the Territorial Council passed a Municipal District Ordinance. At this time, the Yellowknife Administrative District became the Municipal District of Yellowknife, and the local trustee board gave way to the Municipal Council of Yellowknife. Under the Yellowknife Ordinance, the Municipal Council membership was to include eight elected members and one Mayor. Each of these officials were to be elected for two year terms. On January 1st, 1954, John “Jock” McNiven was officially instated as the first Mayor of the Municipal District of Yellowknife.
On September 18th, 1967, the Northwest Territories adopted the recommendations of the Carrothers Commission, and Yellowknife became the official capital city. The transfer of additional government powers from the federal administrative division in Ottawa to the Municipal District of Yellowknife fuelled further municipal growth.