Last updated Friday, April 14 at 12:15 p.m.
The mace of the legislative assembly is coming to the communities of the Beaufort Delta later this month.
The symbolic mace will be visiting Aklavik’s Moose Kerr School on April 25, Tsiigehtchic’s Chief Paul Niditchie School on the morning of April 26, and Fort McPherson’s Chief Julius School that same afternoon.
Residents of each community will have the chance to learn about the mace and about the territory’s consensus government from the speaker of the house and the sergeant-at-arms.
“For younger people, especially younger students that are in the smaller communities, they may not have the same opportunities,” says Floyd Powder, the Assembly’s sergeant-at-arms.
He says he hopes the tour will inspire young people to take a similar path in their lives.
(Photo courtesy of the Legislative Assembly)
Among other features, the mace contains 33 pebbles, one from each community. This makes it rattle when it’s moved. “The purpose is to remind all members in chambers of the Legislative Assembly that they’re representing all communities and all the people of the Northwest Territories,” says Powder.
The mace has visited 11 of the territory’s 33 communities since 2006, with the goal of visiting every community in the NWT.
This is the first time the mace has toured since 2017, due to a combination of factors, including the covid-19 pandemic.
