History of the Northwest Territories Government of the Northwest Territories, arrived in Yellowknife on board a chartered DC-7. In 1969, A special committee of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories chose a new flag for the territory. Robert Bessant's design was chosen among entries to a Canada-wide contest. The government would introduce the popular polar bear license plate in 1970. In 1975, the territorial government once again became a fully elected body. By 1961, the federal government devolved responsibility for place naming to the provinces. But not in the territories. In 1984, the Canadian Government agreed to transfer the responsibility for naming places to
Yellowknife Yellowknife began with the discovery of diamonds north of the city in 1991. The last of the gold mines in Yellowknife closed in 2004. Today, Yellowknife is primarily a government town and a service centre for the diamond mines. On April 1, 1999, its purview as capital of the NWT was reduced when the territory of Nunavut was split from the NWT. As a result, jurisdiction for that region of Canada was transferred to the new capital city of Iqaluit. Consequently, Yellowknife lost its standing as the Canadian capital city with the smallest population. Yellowknife is on the Canadian Shield,