Asger Rye Pedersen, C.M., O.Nu.
Kugluktuk, Nunavut
Red Pedersen has served the communities of Canada’s central Arctic region for seven decades. An entrepreneur and community leader, he has made significant contributions to the region’s economic and social development, notably in such roles as chair of the Coppermine settlement, education and health councils, and as a long-time Canadian ranger . Former member and speaker of the Northwest Territories Legislature and, subsequently, mayor of Kugluktuk, he has been integral to the growth and evolution of public government in the North.