History of Northwest Territories capital cities territory for the Inuit. In 1982, a plebiscite on division was held throughout the Northwest Territories, in which a majority of the residents voted in favour of division. The land claims agreement was completed in September 1992 and ratified by a majority of voters. On July 9, 1993, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act and the Nunavut Act were passed by the Canadian Parliament. In December, 1995, the Nunavut capital plebiscite was held, and the voters in the future Nunavut territory chose Iqaluit as their capital city, defeating Rankin Inlet. Iqaluit became the official capital on April 1, 1999, when
Yellowknife limited to the Kam Lake and airport subdivisions. Jolliffe Island sits in Yellowknife Bay and is public land under the jurisdiction of the City of Yellowknife after a land purchase when Imperial Oil vacated the site. The island is surrounded by a community of houseboats who have been living off the grid since 1978. Their relationship with the city is complex and often strained as the houseboats are popular with sightseers, but at the same time they live outside of the city's tax jurisdiction while using city services leading to lawsuits and tensions with the City of Yellowknife. Yellowknife has