The Northwest Territories operates on a consensus government using the First Past the Post electoral system.
With a few historical exceptions all electoral districts in the Northwest Territories are represented by a single member.
[2] From 1870 to 1876 the North-West Territories was run by an interim government, first led by lieutenant-governor William McDougall, and a council appointed by Ottawa.
Members could be elected to join the council if an area of 1,000 square miles (3,000 km2) had 1,000 inhabitants.
[4] According to the Act, when the council reached twenty members, it would gain control of territorial affairs from the crown.
The government in this period was made of members from the populated regions in the south.
As a result, the population dropped from approx 160,000 to 17,000, of which 16,000 were aboriginal and had no right to vote under Canadian law.
[3] The government of the North-West Territories defaulted back to its 1870 constitutional status, and once again came under federal control.