History of Northwest Territories capital cities to evaluate and recommend changes to the Northwest Territories to deal with an array of outstanding issues regarding self-government in the north. One of the more visible and lasting effects of the Carrothers Commission was to choose a new capital city for the territorial government. The Carrothers Commission, for the first time, gave some voice to residents in the Northwest Territories through extensive consultations with the territorial population. In prior years, the decision to change the seat of government had always been made without consulting Northwest Territories residents. Edgar Dewdney, for example, who made the decision to change the capital
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,