Tom Butters

Thomas H. "Tom" Butters, CM (June 1925 – March 2, 2015) was a politician from Northwest Territories, Canada. He had a long career as a Member of the Northwest Territories Legislature from 1970 until 1991.

Butters was first elected to the Northwest Territories Legislature in the 1970 Northwest Territories general election. He won the new electoral district of Western Arctic defeating incumbent Duncan Pryde. Due to a significant redistribution of electoral district in 1975, Butters ran for re-election in the 1975 Northwest Territories general election in the new Inuvik electoral district because Western Arctic no longer covered his home in Inuvik. He would win re-election in the new riding.

Butters would be re-elected for a third term in the 1979 Northwest Territories general election. In his third term he would be appointed as the Minister of Finance by Premier George Braden in 1981.^[1] The posting was significant as Butters became the first elected member to hold the role since Frederick Haultain was acting territorial treasurer in 1905.^[2]

Butters would He would seek a fourth term in the 1983 Northwest Territories general election. He would be re-elected to his fifth and final term in the 1987 Northwest Territories general election retiring in 1991. He served as Minister of the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation from 1989 until 1991.^[3]

In 1994, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.^[4] He died in Duncan, British Columbia in 2015, aged 89.^[5]

References

1. "Executive Council Northwest Territories Housing Corporation" (PDF). Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 11, 2008. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
2. "History of the Northwest Territories Legislature 1876 to 1905" (PDF). Saskatchewan Archives. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-20. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
3. Janice Brum (September 16, 1996). "Northwest Territories Housing Corporation". NWT Culture and Heritage Division. Archived from the original on July 14, 2006. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
4. "Order of Canada citation".
5. "Tom Butters, 5-term N.W.T. MLA and founder of Inuvik Drum, dies at 89". cbc.ca. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.