Nick G. Sibbeston was born on November 21, 1943, in Fort Simpson, a small community on the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories. He is Métis.
A survivor of the residential school system — torn away from his family at the age of five — Sibbeston endured loneliness and callous treatment, but discovered a love of learning that would shape the rest of his life. He became the first Indigenous person from the Canadian North to earn a law degree, completing his LLB in 1975.
Political Career
He entered Territorial politics in 1970, winning a four-year term on the North West Territorial Council. From 1979 to 1991, he served in the NWT Legislative Assembly — first as an MLA, then as a cabinet minister.
In 1985, he became the fourth Premier of the Northwest Territories, and the second Métis in Canadian history to lead a constitutional government, following John Norquay of Manitoba a century earlier.
As Chairman of the Western Constitutional Forum, Sibbeston helped shape the political negotiations that would lead to the division of the Northwest Territories and the creation of Nunavut.
Beyond elected office, he worked as a Justice Specialist for the Government of the NWT, served as Public Administrator for Deh Cho Health & Social Services, and sat for four years on the Canadian Human Rights Panel/Tribunal.
The Senate
In 1999, Sibbeston was appointed to the Senate of Canada, where he represented the Northwest Territories for eighteen years. He served as Vice-Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples, working on issues of land rights, self-governance, and the living conditions of Indigenous communities across the country.
He resigned on his 74th birthday — November 21, 2017 — one year before the mandatory retirement age. His farewell message to his colleagues was characteristically direct:
"Be bold and speak from the heart."
You Will Wear a White Shirt
From the Northern Bush to the Halls of Power
Nick Sibbeston's memoir tells the full story — from a childhood in the northern bush, through residential school, to the halls of political power in Yellowknife and Ottawa.
"Growing up in a remote Northern community, Nick Sibbeston had little reason to believe he would one day fulfill his mother's ambition of holding a career where he would 'wear a white shirt.'"
Published by Douglas & McIntyre, 2015. 336 pages.
Nick Sibbeston is the father of Jerald Sibbeston, founder of Yamoria Canada Chat Inc., who continues the family's commitment to building infrastructure in the North — now in the field of sovereign artificial intelligence.
The Sibbeston family's roots remain in the Dehcho region, where the Mackenzie River has carried their name for three generations.