Richard Edjericon

Member Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh

Richard Edjericon was first elected to represent the district of Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh in by election during the 19th Assembly in 2022 and was re-elected to the 20th Assembly later the next year.

A descendant of Treaty 8 Chipewyan signator Chief Oliver Edjericon, Richard Edjericon was born and raised in Little Buffalo River near Fort Resolution. He attended Diamond Jenness Secondary High School in Hay River and Akaitcho Hall in Yellowknife.

Obtaining his journeyman carpenter’s certification from Thebacha College in Fort Smith, Mr. Edjericon has nearly four decades of experience as a journeyman certified carpenter working through out the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in residential and commercial construction.

Eventually his work in construction brought him to the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation as the North Slave Maintenance Coordinator. He would also become the General Manager for the Yellowknives Dene First Nation Housing Division.

Mr. Edjericon’s dedication to his community led him to seek the position of Elected Head Chief for Dettah and the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, holding that office from 1999 to 2003. He also became the Acting Grand Chief Spokeperson on behalf of the Akaitcho Chiefs for the Akaitcho Territory Government. He later joined the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board in 2007 and soon became chair, reappointed to this position in 2011.

Mr. Edjericon’s proudest moments include settling boundary disputes, signing political accords, creating fairer nation to nation relationships, and fostering economic development. As MLA he brings with him a passion for a fairer, more prosperous North, and a great depth of knowledge in housing, economics, and politics. He lives in Ndilo with his wife, Aleida.”

Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh Electoral District

Committees

Tu Nedhé - Wiilideh
Member's Office

Yellowknife NT X1A 2L9
Canada

P.O. Box
1320
Email
Phone
Extension
12185
Mobile
Constituency Office
Email

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 166)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to bring a serious concern before the House. It has been over three months since the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs dissolved the elected Fort Resolution council and then appointed an administrator to oversee the local government.

Mr. Speaker, at this time MACA Minister said that this appointment was a significant step to the hamlet of Fort Resolution towards having a strong and stable community government. But, Mr. Speaker, isn't it ironic that the Minister's actions have done just the opposite? Instead of a stable community government with...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 166)

Thank you for that response. I guess my last question would be for the Minister is what does she feel will be the biggest impacts for NWT businesses with the proposed amendments of this bill? Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 166)

Like, again, I know the rebranding portion, you know, I mean, we're changing the housing corporation to Housing NWT. Maybe we could have build ten houses just on that note, all the letterheads and everything else, the cost of doing all that. You know, this can be just a simple fix, you know. All you got to do is where it says BDIC, just put a little polar bear there or something like that. And the other ones BDC, that's a federal organization. Put a Canada flag or something there. But anyway, I guess I'm just wondering, Madam Chair, can you maybe elaborate a little bit more as to how your...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 166)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll just keep my comments short. I guess the overall, I've been around for a while here in Aboriginal politics. And, you know, when we keep thinking about the early days of the Northern Accord in 1989, was more or less again another way of transferring a lot of these authorities from Ottawa to the GNWT.

And in 2004, they created the Aboriginal Summit and the Aboriginal Summit, again, was made of all these Aboriginal leaders in the Northwest Territories and trying to work on an arrangement with GNWT. And my colleague, Ron Bonnetrouge here from the Deh Cho, had talked...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 166)

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister also update the House, this House, on the status report on the issue that led Fort Resolution being placed under administration by the Minister and when will the hamlet of Fort Resolution return to the local government by local leaders? Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 166)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of MACA. Can the Minister provide a reason why the Act hasn't been followed by his appointed administrator in Fort Resolution with respect to public meetings and community engagement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Thank you, Madam Chair. As well, I agree with my colleagues as well that, you know, we if we can't have an emergency meeting on this, then to iron out the last details of this, I'm aware of what was being discussed on this bill. So as well, I will not be supporting this motion. Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Again, speaking to the motion, Madam Chair, I just was talking about communication. You know, when we talk about value at risk, etcetera, I know in our community in Fort Resolution, I was there when we had an intergovernmental agency meeting, and we talked about this. But any other time, you know, communication, again, has to come down to the leadership and shared with them. And I'm a little concerned that, you know, if we have one meeting, we only have one RWED officer there. But it didn't go far enough. There was too many questions. And, again, communication needs to be looked at for sure...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I, too, I have a concern about what happened here, the fire here in the Northwest Territories. During the three and a half weeks in my riding, I listened to a lot of my elders, and the people in the community were talking about in the early days when fires happened they had a fire tower there. People were manned the towers manned by the RWED at the time.

And in those days, when they used to spot a fire, the guys would get on it right away. And they put out the fire. And they do it whether it would be three or four or five days, but they're on it; it's done, and it doesn...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 165)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the early days I was involved as a young councillor for YKDFN and impact benefit agreements with our community now, also with resource development agreements in our communities as well. So I've been involved with working with BHP, Diavik, and De Beers, and now we're getting to the point where these mines are going into reclamation. And so having said that, you know, our communities really are really in need of, you know, new mines to come up and to, you know, look for work for our young people in our community. And, you know, I was pleased today to talk...