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Northerner at heart

Col. E. A. (Al) Ballantyne a much-loved family man

Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 31/01) - A central figure in the North's transition from a bureaucratic to a democratic territory has died.

Col. E. A. (Al) Ballantyne died of a heart attack Friday morning at his home in the seniors' community of Arbutus Ridge, just south of Duncan, B.C. He was 82.

Following a 28-year military career which included service in England and northwestern Europe during the Second World War, Ballantyne spent four years working for the territorial government, then overseen by commissioner Stuart Hodgson.

A year before his arrival in 1968, elected members formed the majority on the government for the first time since 1905. By 1970 all but four of the 14 members of the government, then known as the Northwest Territories Council, were elected.

Ballantyne began his civilian life as the territorial government's first director of industry and development. In 1970 he was appointed Director General of the Northwest Territories centennial celebrations, which included a visit from the royal family.

"He was an extraordinary bureaucrat in a unique role during the first few years when the Northern government was being fashioned," commented Jack 'Sig' Sigvaldason.

Sigvaldason, a reporter at the time and now publisher of this paper, said Ballantyne was "honest and outspoken -- he paid far more than lip service to the concept of open government."

Though he spent a relatively brief time here, the North left a lasting impression.

"My mother and he both loved the North," said Ballantyne's eldest son, Michael. "They've maintained a lot of friends from the North over the years. Because my father was in the military, we lived everywhere (the family moved 20 times), but the place they remembered the most fondly was the North."

Ballantyne returned to the north many times after settling in British Columbia. His most recent visit was a two-week stay last Christmas.

Though he was most widely remembered for his political role in the shaping of the North, Ballantyne is best remembered for his role as a husband, father and grandfather.

One who was always ready with a quick turn of phrase, he heralded each of his 12 grandchildren's birthdays with poems he wrote especially for the occasion.

Through his 56 years of marriage he referred to his wife, Barbara, as 'my bride'. Hometown sweethearts, the two first met when Barbara was 12 years old. Ballantyne was also an understanding and loving father to their five sons. As a teen his eldest son, Michael, embraced the sense of freedom and rebellion that prevailed among youth of the 1960s.

"We had some interesting differences of opinion during those days, but we had actually resolved them all by the time I left university. We were the closest and the best of friends from the time I was 22 years old."

Michael, who resides in Yellowknife went on to serve as a member of the legislative assembly for 12 years, most of them as a cabinet minister.

A memorial service will be held for Ballantyne tomorrow in Duncan, B.C.