(YELLOWKNIFE) Thursday, October 13, 2016 – The Speaker of the 18th Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories expresses condolences to the family of Bryan Pearson, who passed away on Wednesday morning.

“On behalf of Members of this Assembly, we offer our condolences to the friends, family and loved ones of Bryan Pearson,” said Speaker Jackson Lafferty.

Mr. Pearson was first elected to the 7th Council of the Northwest Territories on December 21, 1970 representing the Eastern Arctic. He was re-elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly on March 10, 1975 representing the newly named electoral district of South Baffin.

During his time as an MLA in the early 1970s, he founded the Interpreter Corps, which led to trained Inuktitut-English interpreters serving the needs of his colleagues some of whom spoke little English.

Mr. Pearson was originally from Liverpool, England, and eventually made his way north to Frobisher Bay (Iqaluit) in his twenties working for the DEW Line. Later, he went on to serve as the founding Mayor of Frobisher Bay.

“Mr. Pearson was a passionate man who embraced the north and its politics, had many business interests and made many friends,” said Speaker Lafferty. “He will be sorely missed."

 Flags will be lowered to half-mast at the Legislative Assembly building in Yellowknife on the day of Mr. Pearson’s memorial service.

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