Nick G. Sibbeston (born November 21, 1943)[1] is a retired Canadian politician, serving from 1985 to 1987 as the fourth premier of the Northwest Territories.
In a 1981 incident, Sibbeston was thrown out of the territorial legislature for throwing a cup of coffee at Peter Fraser, the speaker of the legislature, during an intense debate.[2]
Sibbeston was appointed to the Senate of Canada on September 2, 1999, on the advice of Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien.[3] In the Senate, one of his goals was to find a new name for the Northwest Territories.[4] He also focused on issues such as the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline, infrastructure in the North, climate change mitigation, and increasing Indigenous engagement in the economy.[3]
On January 29, 2014, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau announced that all Liberal Senators, including Sibbeston, were removed from the Liberal caucus, and would continue sitting as Independents.[5] According to Senate Opposition leader James Cowan, the Senators will still refer to themselves as Liberals even if they are no longer members of the parliamentary Liberal caucus.[6] Sibbeston agreed with Trudeau's decision, saying that the Northwest Territories also did not have a party system.[2] That same month, Sibbeston defended his absence from 51 out of 70 votes in the previous parliamentary session, his reason being the nastiness of partisan party politics in Ottawa, which he was not used to in the north.[2]
On May 5, 2016, Sibbeston left the Senate Liberal caucus to sit as an independent senator.[7]
In September 2017, Sibbeston announced that he would resign on November 21, his 74th birthday. Sibbeston said that he would focus on his family, travel, and spirituality as well as translating Catholic liturgy into the Dene language.[3]