Asger Rye "Red" Pedersen, sometimes Asgar Rye Pederson, (born 1935, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

) is a former territorial level politician. As a young man in 1953, he got a job in the Canadian Arctic

Northern Canada

Northern Canada, colloquially the North, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut...

 with the Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson's Bay Company

The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...

 (HBC) at Cambridge Bay

Cambridge Bay, Nunavut

Cambridge Bay, named for Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, is a hamlet located in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada...

, Nunavut

Nunavut

Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...

 (then the Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...

). In 1954, he was sent to Perry River (Kuugjuak) to assist Stephen Angulalik

Stephen Angulalik

Stephen Angulalik was an internationally known Ahiarmiut Inuit from northern Canada notable as a Kitikmeot fur trader and trading post operator at Kuugjuaq , Northwest Territories...

, the Ahiarmiut Inuit

Inuit

The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...

 owner of the trading post

Trading post

A trading post was a place or establishment in historic Northern America where the trading of goods took place. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, was known as a trade route....

, with the financial records, inventory and ordering, as Angulalik spoke no English. In 1957, Angulalik sold the Perry River post to the HBC and Pedersen was appointed manager. Angulalik returned to the post after resolving legal problems and worked alongside Pedersen; they became lifelong friends.

Public service

Ten years later, Pedersen became an area administrator for the Canadian government in Coppermine

Kugluktuk, Nunavut

Kugluktuk is a hamlet located at the mouth of the Coppermine River in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada, on Coronation Gulf, southwest of Victoria Island...

, Pangnirtung

Pangnirtung, Nunavut

Pangnirtung is an Inuit hamlet, Qikiqtaaluk Region, in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, located on Baffin Island. As of the 2006 census the population was 1,325, an increase of 3.8% from the 2001 census...

 and Fort Rae

Behchoko, Northwest Territories

Behchokǫ̀ , officially the Tłı̨chǫ Community Government of Behchokǫ̀ is a community in the North Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Behchokǫ̀ is located on the Yellowknife Highway , on the northwest tip of Great Slave Lake, approximately northwest of Yellowknife...

. From 1983-1991, he was a member of the Northwest Territories Legislature. Pedersen was first elected to the Northwest Territories Legislature in the 1983 Northwest Territories general election

Northwest Territories general election, 1983

The Northwest Territories general election, 1983 was the 15th general election in the Northwest Territories history. The election took place on November 21, 1983....

, winning the Kitikmeot West electoral district. He was re-elected in the 1987 Northwest Territories general election

Northwest Territories general election, 1987

The Northwest Territories general election, 1987 was the 16th general election in the history of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The election took place on October 5, 1987.This was the last election in which Elections Canada would administer the elections....

. Pedersen was elected Speaker of the Assembly

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories

The Speaker is the presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories The speakership has changed many times from 1876 to 1888 the presiding officer of the assembly was the Lieutenant-Governor of the Northwest Territories, however Members of the Legislative Assembly would...

 on November 12, 1987 and served that role until October 18, 1989.

In 2001, he was one of three members of the Legislative Assembly of the NWT's "Independent Commission on Members Compensation". Pedersen was a Board Member and Chairperson of the Independent Environmental Monitoring Agency until his retirement in 2003.

While Red Pedersen is now retired from the Canadian Rangers

Canadian Rangers

The Canadian Rangers are a sub-component of the Canadian Forces reserve that provide a military presence in Canada's sparsely settled northern, coastal, and isolated areas. Formally established on May 23, 1947, a primary role of this part-time force is to conduct surveillance or sovereignty...

, his son and grandson continue the tradition.

External links

• Pedersen's early days at Perry River including recorded interviews in MP3 format.