Jeannie Marie-Jewell (born 7 October 1961) is a territorial level politician from northern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. She served as the first female Speaker in the history of the Northwest Territories legislature.

Political career

Marie-Jewell was first elected to the Northwest Territories legislature in the 1987 Northwest Territories for the riding of

Slave River The Slave River is a Canadian river that flows from the confluence of the and Peace River in northeastern Alberta and runs into Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories. The river's name is thought to derive from the name for the Slavey g ...

. She served that district until it was abolished in 1991. She rose to prominence in her first term in office holding a number of cabinet posts. She became Minister of Social Services, Minister of Personnel and Minister Responsible for the Women's Secretariat. She was also the Minister Responsible for the Highway Transport Board and Workers' Compensation Board and Minister for Youth. Her efforts during the 11th NWT legislature led to the renaming of her riding from Slave River to Thebacha. Marie-Jewell ran for re-election in the new electoral district of Thebacha in the

1991 Northwest Territories general election The 1991 Northwest Territories general election was held on October 15, 1991. Election Results The election was held in 24 constituencies with 16,068 ballots cast, a turnout of 76.25%. Outgoing Premier Dennis Patterson ran for re-election but wa ...

. She was elected speaker on 13 December 1993. She served as speaker until 15 December 1994. In 1994 Marie-Jewell filed a complaint with the Northwest Territories ethics commissioner that eventually led to the resignation and inquiry into Premier

Don Morin Don Albert Morin (born 1954 in Hay River, Northwest Territories) was the seventh premier of the Northwest Territories The premier of the Northwest Territories is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian territory of the Nor ...

's conflict-of-interest in the shipment of government owned bison being shipped to a ranch in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

. Marie-Jewell was defeated running for re-election in the

1995 Northwest Territories general election 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

by Michael Miltenberger. She ran for her old seat once again in the

1999 Northwest Territories general election The 1999 Northwest Territories general election was held on December 6, 1999. This was the first election under the new boundaries that were created when Nunavut was carved out of the Northwest Territories. 19 members were elected, five fewer tha ...

but was defeated by Miltenberger again. She again ran against Miltenberger for a third time in the 2007 Northwest Territories general election. She finished last in a field of three candidates with 16.8% of the vote.

References

Living people Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories Women MLAs in the Northwest Territories 1961 births People from Fort Smith, Northwest Territories Women legislative speakers 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories 20th-century Canadian women politicians {{NorthwestTerritories-politician-stub