Alan Keith Peterson (born February 2, 1956) was born in

Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

, Canada and lives in

Cambridge Bay Cambridge Bay (Inuinnaqtun: Inuktitut syllabics, Inuktitut: ; 2021 Canadian census, 2021 population 1,760; Census geographic units of Canada#Population centres, population centre 1,403) is a Hamlet (place)#Canada, hamlet located on Victoria Is ...

Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...

. He was the ember of the Nunavut MLAfor the

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

having won the seat in the

2004 Nunavut general election The 2004 Nunavut general election was held on February 16, 2004, to elect the 19 members of the 2nd Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. Premier Paul Okalik asked for the five-year-old territory's first parliament to be dissolved on January 16. Th ...

. He was re-elected in the 2008 and 2013 elections. Between November 2008 and November 2017 he served nine years as the Finance Minister and Financial Management Board Chairman while serving concurrent terms as Minister of Justice / Attorney General for almost five years; Minister of the Nunavut Workers Safety & Compensation Commission for five years; and Health Minister for two years. During his terms as the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Justice, Peterson also held responsibility for the Public Service Act (Human Resources); Nunavut Liquor Commission; Nunavut Liquor Licensing Board; RCMP; Nunavut Corrections Services; Nunavut Legal Services Board; and the Labour Standards Board. He was Nunavut's first Minister of Democratic Institutions. Peterson was also Minister Responsible for the Qulliq Energy Corporation for one year. Peterson is Canada's longest-serving finance minister. Peterson decided not to run in the 2017 election.Nunavut cabinet minister Keith Peterson says no to another term
/ref> Peterson has resided permanently in Cambridge Bay since 1973. Peterson attended F.H. Collins Secondary School in Whitehorse and graduated from

Sir John Franklin High School École Sir John Franklin High School is a high school in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, operated by Yellowknife Education District No. 1. The school is named for the explorer Sir John Franklin. Sir John Franklin (SJFHS) offers the ...

Yellowknife Yellowknife is the capital, largest community, and the only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of t ...

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

. He holds a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

degree from the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

. Before becoming a MLA in the

Legislative Assembly of Nunavut The Legislative Assembly of Nunavut is the legislative assembly for the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The seat of the Assembly is the Legislative Building of Nunavut in Iqaluit. Prior to the creation of Nunavut as a Canadian territory on ...

Peterson was a two-term mayor of Cambridge Bay, between January 2000 and December 2003. From March 2000 until December 2003 he served as the Kitikmeot director on the Nunavut Association of Municipalities (NAM). He was subsequently elected by the Nunavut mayors as vice-president, and then president of the NAM. He was involved with municipal governments since first being elected in 1984 serving as either a councillor or as deputy mayor. During the 1980s Peterson was employed by the

Government of the Northwest Territories The Government of the Northwest Territories () is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian territory of the Northwest Territories. In modern Canadian use, the term ''Government of the Northwest Territories'' refers specifical ...

(GNWT) in the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, delivering government business programs and services to individuals and businesses in the Kitikmeot. In 1991, Peterson was instrumental in establishing and managing the Kitikmeot Regional Community Economic Development Organization, an

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

community

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

organization (CEDO). This organization later became the Kitikmeot Economic Development Commission. The organization helps Kitikmeot Inuit and communities with business and training initiatives. In 1994 the Nunavut Inuit CEDO's created the Nunavut CEDO to represent them on pan-territorial and national CEDO issues. He played a key role in establishing the Nunavut CEDO and managed this organization until 2002. In 1991, Peterson was appointed to the Kitikmeot Corporation board of directors and served as Secretary-Treasurer and Director until 2002. The Kitikmeot Corporation is the wholly owned Inuit Birthright development corporation of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association. They invest

land claim A land claim is "the pursuit of recognized territorial ownership by a group or individual". The phrase is usually only used with respect to disputed or unresolved land claims. Some types of land claims include Aboriginal title, aboriginal land cla ...

s payments in business ventures to create economic wealth for Kitikmeot Inuit. From 1991 until 2004 Peterson provided political, social and business advice to the Kitikmeot Inuit Association. He was the KIA's lead negotiator for benefits agreements with Northwest Territories and Nunavut based mines, including

Echo Bay Mines Echo Bay Mines Limited was a Canada, Canadian company which was organized in 1964 by Northwest Explorers Limited to develop a silver deposit at Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada, which had been staked in 1930 by The Consolidated Mining ...

( Lupin Mine), Tahera Diamonds (

Jericho Diamond Mine The Jericho Diamond Mine is a dormant diamond mine located in Canada's Nunavut territory. Jericho is Nunavut’s first and only diamond mine. It is located northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and is accessible by air all year and by ...

), Miramar Gold Mine (until he was elected MLA), BHP Ekati (

Ekati Diamond Mine The Ekati Diamond Mine, often simply called Ekati, is Canada's first surface and underground diamond mine and is owned by Burgundy Diamond Mines. It is located north-east of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, and about south of the Arctic ...

), and

Diavik Diamond Mine The Diavik Diamond Mine is a diamond mine in the North Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, about northeast of Yellowknife. Description Diavik Diamond Mine is an industrial complex set in a remote, subarctic landscape. It consi ...

. He was a member of the NWT Business Credit Corporation for six years from 1993 to 1999, ending when Nunavut was created. He is a past chairman of the Kitikmeot Law Centre; he was an appeals chairman for the GNWT and Union of Northern Workers; and is a former president of Local X007 for the Kitikmeot.

References

External links

*. Biography at the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut {{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Keith 1956 births Living people Members of the Executive Council of Nunavut Politicians from Whitehorse 21st-century mayors of places in Nunavut Mayors of Cambridge Bay 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut Nunavut municipal councillors