Katie May
Northern News Services
Published Friday, August 08, 2008

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The first resident commissioner of the North, a man credited with pioneering the job within the NWT government, died Tuesday at the age of 73.

Daniel Norris, born and raised in the Mackenzie Delta near Inuvik, served as NWT Commissioner for a full five-year term from 1989 to 1994.

Former Commissioner Norris

He died Tuesday evening after suffering a heart attack in Edmonton's University of Alberta hospital, where he had been hospitalized since March because of long-term complications with diabetes.

His ex-wife Margaret Norris said in the 31 years they were together, what she most loved about him was his "thoughtfulness and kindness and consideration for all people."

The couple had three children - twins Meghan and Holly and son Daniel.

"He was very kind-hearted - he always had time for elders and children, and spent a lot of time with youth (in Inuvik)," she said, adding that even though her ex-husband wasn't born into an aboriginal blood line, he adopted the Gwich'in culture as his own. Though he lived in Hay River during his last years, Norris will be buried near Inuvik under direction of the tribal council.

"We felt that he is coming home to his people," said Margaret, 61. "He loved the land and he loved to be considered to be one of the people up here."

Norris worked for the Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources in Aklavik until the late 1960s, after he earned his private pilot's license. From the early 1970s to late 1980s he served as the regional director of Inuvik and he even represented the territory twice in the Arctic Winter Games and mixed championships as a strong curling competitor. But Margaret said he'd felt his most important accomplishment was becoming Commissioner of the NWT.

"He was quite proud of that," she said. "It was hard sometimes, because he did travel a lot ... when he could, he was with us."

He took seriously his position as commissioner, a role he took on shortly after the position was no longer appointed by the federal government and became similar to that of provincial lieutenant governors.

Current NWT Commissioner Tony Whitford said his colleague served "with distinction."

"He was a pioneer in establishing the role of commissioner in the North," he said. "It's sad to lose people that have made their mark on Northern life."

"After working all your life, one should have a longer retirement."

Whitford first met Norris in the late 1970s while Norris was working with the GNWT personnel department in Inuvik and Whitford was working on the local pipeline.

"He became a good friend of mine for the rest of his life," Whitford said. "He had a way with people. He loved the North and he worked for Northern people and I think that's very important that he had his priorities set right."