Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I rise today to advise Members of the passing of Mr. George Braden this past Monday in Ottawa.

Mr. Braden was a long-time Northerner who graduated from Sir John Franklin Territorial High School before studying political science at the University of Alberta and Dalhousie University.

From 1977 to 1979 Mr. Braden was an advisor to the Honourable Bud Drury, the Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Constitutional Development in the Northwest Territories. In 1979 he was elected to the 9th Legislative Assembly as the Member for Yellowknife North.

The Assembly of 1979 was in transition. While all its Members were elected, the federally appointed Commissioner still had a direct role in the day-to-day administration of the Government of the Northwest Territories and chaired Cabinet meetings, which then included only three Members of the Legislative Assembly.

The number of Members of the Legislative Assembly appointed to Cabinet expanded to seven at the beginning of the 9th Assembly, with Mr. Braden chosen as one of its Members. In 1980 Mr. Braden was selected by his colleagues to be the Leader of the Elected Executive, a position that

came to be known first as Government Leader and later as Premier.

As Leader of the Elected Executive, Mr. Braden continued the work he had begun with Mr. Drury of bringing increased decision-making power to the North and promoting responsible government by Northerners for Northerners. Devolution of responsibility for land and resources during this Assembly was the most recent example of how this work continues.

As well as Leader of the Elected Executive, Mr. Braden also held portfolios as Minister of Economic Development and Tourism, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Minister of Justice and Public Services, Minister of Priorities and Planning and Minister for the Status of Women.

During his time in government, Mr. Braden also began efforts to promote a new recognition of the Northwest Territories at the national level and a more prominent role in Confederation. This included efforts to win a seat for the Northwest Territories at First Ministers conferences and his leadership of this government’s lobbying for Aboriginal rights to be included in Section 35 of the Constitution. In fact, NWT Days first originated with Mr. Braden, when he and all 22 Members of the Legislative Assembly decided to fly to Ottawa during the debates on the patriation of the Constitution to lobby for the recognition of Aboriginal rights.

Mr. Braden continued his work to promote the Northwest Territories and advance its interests after he left office in 1983. This included several years representing the Government of the Northwest Territories as deputy minister of Intergovernmental Affairs in our Ottawa office, where he worked to assert this government’s role as a major participant at the international level and increase its official contacts with provincial governments and other national institutions.

Mr. Braden was also Commissioner of the Northwest Territories Expo ’86 Pavilion, staffed entirely by Northwest Territories residents and promoting the fur industry, serving country food and hosting 1.5 million visitors over six months.

In recent years, Mr. Braden served as senior policy advisor to Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson, himself a former Legislative colleague and past Premier of the Northwest Territories. He continued to be a constant promoter of the North and its potential and was a reliable advisor in Ottawa for many visiting Northwest Territories politicians, senior officials and other leaders.

Mr. Braden will be remembered not just as our first Premier, Mr. Speaker, but as one of Canada’s nation builders. He has earned this recognition for both his vision and leadership in guiding this territory along the path towards responsible

northern government and his support for placing Aboriginal rights in the Canadian Constitution. I am honoured to stand here today as Premier, and as his successor, to continue the work he dedicated much of his life to.

A book of condolences has been set up in the Great Hall beside a portrait of George that also depicts the Northwest Territories Expo ’86 Pavilion, a project very close to his heart. I welcome all members of the public to come and sign the book and offer their own memories of this great Northerner.

Mr. Braden was a true champion for the Northwest Territories and we have lost a good friend and contemporary this week, Mr. Speaker. Many of us knew and worked with George and with his brother Bill, himself a two-term Member of this Assembly. His mother, Esther, is also well known to many of us as a dedicated community builder. I invite Members to join with me in offering our profound condolences to his widow, Lise Beaudry-Braden; Esther; his sister, Sandra; brothers Bill, Max and Pat and their families, represented today by his niece Carmen, on behalf of the people of the Northwest Territories.

I would now ask Members to rise with me and observe a moment of silence in memory of Mr. Braden and his contributions to this territory and its people.

---Moment of Silence

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.