Northwest Territories Legislative Building Northwest Territories Legislative Building The Northwest Territories Legislative Building is the home of the Government of the Northwest Territories of Canada. The most recent building was built in 1993 and commenced usage in 1994. The Government has used many permanent and temporary facilities throughout its history. The current building is two stories tall with two round halls, the Great Hall and the Caucus Room. It is located in Yellowknife, and overlooks Frame Lake. It was designed by Ferguson Simek Clark/Pin Matthews (of Yellowknife) in association with Matsuzaki Wright Architects Inc. (of Vancouver), and landscape architect Cornelia Oberlander. The North-West Council
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,