History of Northwest Territories capital cities 18, 1967, after the Carrothers commission chose it for its central location, transportation links, industrial base and residents' preferences. Yellowknife, in 1967, was not yet ready to serve as home for the government. During the years that it took for the capital's infrastructure to slowly develop, most of the civil service remained in Fort Smith for many years and the governing Council continued its practice of holding legislative sessions all over the territory for a number of years. The Northwest Territories marked a new era when the legislative council moved into a newly constructed legislature building on November 17, 1993.
Garden of the Provinces and Territories of Public Works and Government Services Canada, officially renamed the park. In December 2015, the federal government requested that the National Capital Commission approve the garden as the site of the proposed Memorial to the Victims of Communism rather than its previously approved site, a plot of land by the Supreme Court of Canada building. One quarter of the site is composed of formal terraces, with the flags of the provinces and territories in the order of their entry to Confederation. Bronze plaques include the floral emblems for each of the provinces and territories. A tall fountain symbolizes a tree.