We began the 1980s with the first premier, sort of, in the history of the Northwest Territories. Now we are finishing the decade with the fourth premier in our series.
Dennis Patterson was born on Dec. 30, 1948 in Vancouver. He spent most of his young life living in British Columbia and Alberta and attended Grande Prairie Regional College in the late-1960s. There, he served as the student association president.
While in the Grande Prairie area, he also worked for the Daily Herald Tribune and the Peace River Record Gazette. At first, he was planning a career in journalism before moving on to a different path.
He then went on to attend the University of Alberta and then Dalhousie University to obtain a law degree.
He made the decision to move to Baffin Island in 1975 to set up a legal aid service. He was hired over the phone. He left his executive office in Vancouver, gave up his luxury car and moved to the Arctic.
He intended to only take up temporary residence in the Northwest Territories but ended up staying much longer than planned. He said,
“When I moved there, I discovered a very fascinating people with a different way of life and new attitudes. We feel Canadians are interested in the north. They’re sometimes ignorant but still very interested.”
Many of those who were hired before him came to the Arctic and left immediately. He said,
“I came here in the spring of 1975 and quickly decided this would be a fascinating challenge for a lawyer and a fascinating place to live.”
There was a cultural shock for him as he arrived. He had to explain in divorce proceedings that he could not represent both spouses. He had to also learn from the elders of the community to help him solve problems the law could not resolve. Language was also a problem but he immediately started to become fluent in Inuktitut when he arrived.
He said,
“An old RCMP sergeant who had been around since the dog team days suggested I get myself a long-haired dictionary.”
He enrolled in a language course and fell in love with his instructor Marie and the two married. He said,
“She has forced me to accommodate myself much faster than I might otherwise have been willing to do.”
In 1978, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories.
He served as the Minister of Education, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Municipal Affairs. As a minister, he was called hard worker who represented his constituents well. He came up as a possible choice for premier in 1983 but he said he was not interested but, quote:
“would be amenable if there was a great deal of pressure on me. I would like to concentrate my efforts on the education ministry if I get it as well as the work being done by the Nunavut forum. The leadership really isn’t the job that I want right now.”
In 1987, he was chosen to become the new premier of the Northwest Territories. Upon his election, he stated he would immediately try to arrange meetings with Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna. It was his hope he could get McKenna to oppose the Meech Lake Accord.
Regarding the accord he said,
“I find it ironic in a meeting where there is talk of fairness and equality and consensus that the rules are not applied to us. We’re Canadians, too.”
Patterson stated that the Accord denied territorial input into the creation of new provinces. He also wanted to push for a renewable resource economy based on fisheries and country foods.
As premier, he headed the campaign that led to the creation of Nunavut. He played a key role in the final land claim agreement that led to its creation in 1999. He spent 20 years working, with many others, to make Nunavut a possibility.
He also campaigned over the low-level military flights conducted over the Northwest Territories, a process he called total frustration. He also criticized GST and campaigned for breaks for the Northwest Territories.
He said,
“I’m afraid that all our best efforts and all the reprofiled programs that we can develop to meet with these impacts will still result inevitably in the business failures, job losses and a weakening of our economy.”
He also found that the NWT and Yukon premiers were finally treated as equal participants in a meeting of western premiers in May 1991. He said,
“I think it means we are starting to be recognized as participants in the national sense.”
In 1991, his time as premier ended. He chose to pass the leadership on to someone else. He said,
“I’ve been criticized for hobnobbing with first ministers instead of minding the store at home.”
In 1992, Patterson resigned from cabinet over an outcry from his efforts to sway assembly members during a debate on a museum expansion project in his riding. At the time, he was the Minister of Health and Social Services.
He left the Legislature in 1995 after he chose not to see re-election.
Patterson also served as the director of the Northwest Territories Law Foundation and as chair of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Legal Services Board until 2000. He also served as the chairman of the Baffin Health Region during this time.
In 2001, he became a private consultant, the same year he was admitted to the Nunavut Law Society.
On Aug. 27, 2009, he was appointed to the Senate of Canada by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He said,
“It is an exciting time for northern Canada because the government of Canada is very interested in the north.”
In 2022, he left the Conservative Senators Group to join the Canadian Senators Group in protest over Conservative members supporting the Freedom Convoy protests.
He said,
“The protests are the last straw. These are not caucuses that I am any longer comfortable with. I’ve been very disappointed not to have seen a condemnation from our leadership of the continued hostage occupation of the heart of our Canadian democracy in downtown Ottawa.”
Today, he serves as the deputy leader of the Canadian Senators Group.
Information from Senate of Canada, CBC, Wikipedia, Edmonton Journal, Grande Prairie Daily Herald Tribune, Regina Leader-Post, Whitehorse Daily Star,
