1891 Northwest Territories general election

The 1891 Northwest Territories general election was held on 7 November 1891 to elect 25 members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It was the second general election in the Northwest Territories' history. The legislature gained three seats, and six new elected members. The three appointed "at large" legal advisors who sat in the assembly in the first legislature were no longer needed. Frederick W. A. G. Haultain was the government leader.

1891 Northwest Territories general election

7 November 1891 (1891-11-07)
25 seats in the North-West Legislative Assembly
Chairman before election Robert Brett Chairman after election Frederick Haultain

The key issue in this election was the French language question. Politicians had spent the previous three years divided on the issues of eliminating the status of the French language as an official language of the territory, and of assimilation of the French-speaking population. The appointed government made French an official language in Section 11 of the Northwest Territories Act of 1877 that gained Royal Assent 28 April 1877. Prior to that, French was an official language while the Northwest Territories was administered under the Manitoba Act from 1870 to 1875.

The issue was ignited by Lieutenant Governor Joseph Royal reading the Speech from the Throne in French on 31 October 1888. The outcry caused Royal to read his second throne speech in English only. On 28 October 1889, the issue was made dormant when a Record Division was taken on the "Language Resolution", a motion that stated the assembly did not need official recognition of languages. The vote was 17 for 2 against. But this did not last, because the federal government got involved, and warned the Lieutenant Governor Royal to start making speeches in French again, and tried to legislate official bilingualism back in the territory, through the House of Commons of Canada. The bill was defeated on second reading, however.

The interference by the Government of Canada resulted in members being elected to the assembly who favoured English as the only official language. On 19 January 1892 Haultain made a motion that only English would be used in the Assembly. The motion passed on division: 20 for, 4 against.