Tony Whitford, former MLA, Speaker and Commissioner of the NWT, has died. He was 83 years old.

Whitford, who was Metis, was raised in Fort Smith, which was the capital of the NWT at the time. He worked with NTCL and the Northern Canada Power Commission, now known as the NWT Power Corporation, before becoming a public servant in the late 1970s.

His first foray into the political scene came in 1988 when he won the by-election for Yellowknife South that was held to replace Ted Richard, who had been appointed to serve as a judge on the NWT Supreme Court. Whitford held the seat until 1995 when he lost to Seamus Henry by a grand total of four votes, but he would return to the legislative assembly in 1999 by winning the seat in Kam Lake. During his third term in office, Whitford would be appointed Speaker of the House, replacing Sam Gargan.

He did not seek re-election in 2003.

Whitford became the Deputy Commissioner of the NWT in 2004 and would be appointed Commissioner one year later, a role he would hold until 2010. Following his time in office, Whitford served as an honourary captain in the Royal Canadian Navy and was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. He was also inducted into the Order of the NWT in 2016 for his work in public service.

"Tony was always a kind gentleman and a very good friend to all," wrote Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins on Monday.

"The NWT lost a good man today," wrote Coun. Steve Payne.

In light of his passing, Whitford is being fondly remembered by those who worked closely with him, including Bill Braden.

He said he knew Whitford in a number of ways, dating back decades when he was working at the Caribou Carnival as a volunteer, he said, and Whitford was working with the Yellowknife Rotary Club.

"One the tasks Tony took on was coordinating the running of the (Canadian Championship) dog derby, which was 15 miles of dog racing," said Braden. "Tony was a shrewd negotiator and made sure that whatever we were going to do was not going to infringe on the Rotary Club's job to run the dog derby. And on the other hand, my job was to make sure that we were able to cooperate and got the best out of each other, which we did."

The more prominent times Braden worked with Whitford was during their time as MLAs. Braden served as MLA for Great Slave between 1999 and 2007.

"He was a trusted friend of everybody in the assembly," said Braden. "He really shined in his role as speaker. He was fair-handed and honest as the day is long."

Braden pointed specifically to Whitford's sense of of humour, especially considering how testy things could get in the assembly.

His comedic relief helped ease tensions, Braden explained.

"He would open up with these terrible jokes. They were so cheesy and silly and we'd all just groan," said Braden light-heartedly. "He had this gift for bringing humour into it, and helping everybody to not take themselves too seriously."

NWT MP Michael McLeod also served in the assembly with Whitford and knew him since their teenage years

"Tony tried really hard to be funny," he laughed. "It didn't always come out as funny, more like dad jokes."

Even though they knew each other before becoming work colleagues, McLeod said they didn't start being friends until they worked together.