Ministerial directives and constitutional development in the Yukon Territory

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Author: Smyth, Steven
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1990
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Yukon; Indian; Polar Record
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400022701; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247400022701

ABSTRACT This article reviews the role that ministerial directives played in shaping the constitutional development of the Yukon Territory 1970–85. These were years of dramatic change, with the form of government shifting from autocratic bureaucracy to responsible democracy. The instrument for this change was the ministerial directive, an order from the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs to the Commissioner, sanctioned by Section 4 of the Yukon Act. The fact that the head of government is the Commissioner, a senior federal public servant, was key to the process.