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 154)

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Minister. Mr. Speaker, other remote lodges continue to operate with their existing water treatment system. Can the Minister explain why Frontier's not being given the same opportunity? Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 154)

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier this year the Lutselk'e Dene First Nation purchased the Frontier Lodge just outside their community. It's a lodge that will be able to provide employment, training, and opportunities for the First Nation. And it's managed by Corey Myers who is the general manager for Frontier Lodge and already, as you know, the lodging industry here in the Northwest Territories is full swing right now, and I just want to mention that the you know, the lodge, Cory Myers, received a letter from the health and social services department talking about the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm trying to  I got nine minutes. I just got one  I mean, a question to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Simpson.

Now that we have the federal minister here for infrastructure, I just thought maybe I'll take this opportunity to remind you if we could work together trying to get a new school for Dettah. And it's been the 1970s when that school was there. And it needs to complete the school in Dettah. They've been asking and asked that question this year. So I just thought maybe if we could work together in trying to get the Government of...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And my invitation to all the Ministers and Premier still stands to coming to the community of Lutselk'e and Fort Resolution and Dettah and N'dilo. I think we had some kind of commitments in April and May so we look forward to that. But when you come to the community of Lutselk'e, again, the issue of winter road is still going to be there. The high cost of living, like I said, to bring a bed frame into the community costs $600. Things we take for granted living in a community like Yellowknife or in places where they have winter road, ice road, allseason roads, there...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Yeah, I'll try to make it short. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What will the GNWT do to help survivors, including intergenerational survivors, to ensure that they are able to access resources and compensation and assistance they deserve and are entitled to? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you (audio).

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Premier. Yeah, this is it's a very tough subject to talk about but at the same time it's really a big topic because I know when even as the Premier going to continue to work with your colleagues and also the chiefs and leaders in the Northwest Territories, it's going to come up now. And those are some of the questions. But some of the questions that may come is come up is what will the GNWT do to identify and remove policies and procedures which are influenced by the doctrine? So they're going to be a lot of questions like that, so I just...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today the Vatican development and education office released a statement formally reputing to the doctrine of discovery. These theories, backed by 15th century Papal Bulls, legitimize colonial era seizure of Indigenous lands and formed the jurisdiction for the forceful disposition of sovereign Indigenous nations from their territories. The doctrine of discovery interbills are based on the presumed racial superiority of European Christians people and has been used for the to dehumanize, exploit, and subject Indigenous people and dispose Indigenous peoples of their land...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also want to say the same thing as the Premier, welcome everybody from the the Minister and all his colleagues and staff here to the House. And I'm glad that they were able to listen to what we have to say in our riding. And it's very important. Also I just want to say that, you know, you come out to Dettah this coming weekend and enjoy your time out there. Mahsi.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I want to thank the Minister. And I look forward to working with you and also with the federal counterparts to, again, find money for our community. And the sooner the better. And I think when we come to the community of Lutselk'e, we're going to have that discussion. And there's other opportunities. Like, you said as well is that there's housing; there's materials in the community, the CoOp, and everybody could all have a hand, including the parks. So I think if you all got together and had that discussion, I'm sure we could reduce that cost as well. But...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 153)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yeah, I'm glad the Minister's here; we're all going to take advantage of that.

Mr. Speaker, like, I mentioned this year I've been trying to get a winter road to my communities but, again, it just still goes to show that, you know, we got winter roads to Colville Lake, Deline, Gameti, Nahanni Butte, Norman Wells, Somba K'e, Tulita, Wekweeti, Whati, Wrigley. And then we got ice roads. We got Aklavik ice road, Dettah ice road. Ice crossings. Liard crossing, Mackenzie River crossing, Peel River crossing. And then we got a road to Tibbitt Lake. And this year I asked...