Consensus government in Canada Consensus government in Canada Consensus government is a form of consensus democracy government in Canada used in two of Canada's three federal territories (Northwest Territories and Nunavut) as well as in Nunatsiavut, an autonomous area in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The population of these jurisdictions are majority Indigenous peoples. The system developed in the Northwest Territories beginning during the 1970s, and was adopted by Nunavut when it came into existence in 1999. In 1905, the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were separated from the then much larger Northwest Territories. The Yukon Territory had been created in 1898 to
Constitution Act, 1886 populations relative to the provinces and indeed, relative to nearly all federal electoral districts. In 1987, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia noted that "representation for the territories [in the House of Commons] has never been based strictly upon population". The Northwest Territories and Yukon have been represented in the Senate since 1975 and Nunavut has been represented in the Senate since its creation in 1999. The Yukon has been represented in the House of Commons since 1902. The Northwest Territories and the Yukon were represented by the same member of the House of Commons between