Northwest Territories (electoral district) Northwest Territories (electoral district) Northwest Territories () is a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada. This riding was created in 1962 from Mackenzie River riding. It was composed of the entire territory of the Northwest Territories. In 1979, the riding was divided into the ridings of Western Arctic and Nunatsiaq (later Nunavut). Following the creation of the territory of Nunavut in 1999, the riding of Western Arctic was made coterminous with the new Northwest Territories. After 1999, Western Arctic was an anomaly in that, unlike Nunavut and Yukon, it did not share the name of
Melville Island (Northwest Territories and Nunavut) meridian and form part of the Northwest Territories. These can only be reached by land from Nunavut or boat from the Northwest Territories. The island has little or no vegetation. Where continuous vegetation occurs, it usually consists of hummocks of mosses, lichens, grasses, and sedges. The only woody species, the dwarf willow, grows as a dense twisted mat crawling along the ground. However, a diverse animal population exists: polar bear, Peary caribou, muskox, northern collared lemming, Arctic wolf, Arctic fox, Arctic hare, and ermine (stoat) are common. A 2003 sighting of a grizzly bear and grizzly tracks by an expedition