Why did the northwest territories join the confederation?

Answer 1

The Northwest territories joined the confederation in 1870. The Northwest Territories joined because the Hudson Bay Company, which owned those lands, sold them to the Canadian Government. Manitoba was included in those lands.The Northwest territories also joined for the railway Canada offered.

Answer 2

The NorthWest Territories were not given a choice when it came to "joining" the Canadian Confederation. That's the short answer.

What is today, Northern Quebec, Northern Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Yukon, NWT and Nunvat was purchased or transferred to Canada, complete with people, in the late 1860's. The effective purchase date of Ruperts Land is July 15, 1870. it was then merged with the North Western Territory to become North West Territories.

Not having any say in the manner many residents particularly those in what is now Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba demanded more representation and fairness than was being offered. This lead to significant unrest and even open rebellions.

Canada sent in troops to what is now Western Canada to crush rebellions. They used a paramilitary force of Canadians, the North West Mounted Police to enforce Canadian law and provide protection to Canadian government representatives who did not always feel safe.

What is left of the NWT is today largely populated by Aboriginal groups who have a different relationship with Canada than the mostly white groups that lived in the NWT . While the mostly white areas, now Western provinces, was, and still is expected to pay Canada via resources and taxes much more than they receive the opposite is often the case with Aboriginal groups.

This transfer to wealth from Canada to Aboriginals, particularly treaty Aboriginals, resulted in little resistance to Canada's presence in the NWT and Arctic who at the time had few resources to offer.

That is not to say that the NWT or Aboriginal groups or even Western Canadians are fully comfortable in their assigned role in Confederation. With the increased value of the resources being extracted many have also started to ask why.