{{Short description|Canadian politician (1935–2025)}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Use mdy dates|date=October 2025|cs1-dates=ly}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Asger_Rye_"Red"_Pedersen.jpg | caption = Pedersen awarded the Order of Nunavut in 2021 | name = Red Pedersen | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|size=100%|CM|ONu}} | birth_date = {{birth date|1935|11|19}} | birth_place = Copenhagen, Denmark | death_date = {{death date and age|2025|05|30|1935|11|19|mf=yes}} | death_place = Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada | office1 = Mayor of Kugluktuk | term_start1 = January 1, 2014 | term_end1 = 2015 | predecessor1 = Ernie Bernhardt | successor1 = Ryan Nivingalok<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/65674nunavut_voters_choose_councillors_mayors_in_staggered_elections/ |title=Nunavut voters choose councillors, mayors in staggered elections |date=December 11, 2014 |access-date=June 10, 2025}}</ref> | office2 = MLA for Kitikmeot West | term_start2 = 1983 | term_end2 = 1991 | predecessor2 = New district | successor2 = Riding dissolved | office3 = Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories | term_start3 = 1987 | term_end3 = 1989 | predecessor3 = Donald Morton Stewart | successor3 = Richard Nerysoo | party = Non-partisan consensus government | occupation = | allegiance = Canada | branch = {{army|Canada}} | service_years = 1960–? | rank = 15px Lieutenant | unit = Canadian Rangers: 1CRPG | spouse = Lena Pedersen | children = Fred Pedersen (son),<br>Calvin Pedersen (grandson) }}

'''Asger Rye "Red" Pedersen''' {{post-nominals|CM|ONu}} (sometimes '''Asgar Rye Pederson''', November 19, 1935 – May 30, 2025) was a Canadian politician. In 1953, he got a job in the Canadian Arctic with the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) at Cambridge Bay, Nunavut (then the Northwest Territories).

In the following year, he was sent to Perry River (''Kuugjuak'') to assist Stephen Angulalik, the Ahiarmiut Inuk owner of the trading post, with he 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.<ref name=parl>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.revparl.ca/english/issue.asp?art=756&param=123 |title=CPA Activities: The Canadian Scene |magazine=Canadian Parliamentary Review |volume= 10 |issue=4 |year=1987 |access-date=October 28, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kitikmeotheritage.ca/Angulalk/anglinuk/perryriv/perryriv.htm |title=Perry River Post |publisher=Kitikmeot Heritage Society |access-date=October 28, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070922235205/http://www.kitikmeotheritage.ca/Angulalk/anglinuk/perryriv/perryriv.htm |archive-date=September 22, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nald.ca/library/learning/unipkausivut/page95.htm |title=Kitikmeot Research Project |publisher=nald.ca |access-date=October 28, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606024658/http://www.nald.ca/library/learning/unipkausivut/page95.htm |archive-date=June 6, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kitikmeotheritage.ca/Angulalk/hudsons/redpedrs/red.htm |title=Red Pedersen |publisher=Kitikmeot Heritage Society |access-date=October 30, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070922235138/http://www.kitikmeotheritage.ca/Angulalk/hudsons/redpedrs/red.htm |archive-date=September 22, 2007 }}</ref>

He was, at one time, married to Lena Pedersen and their grandson, Calvin Pedersen was acclaimed as MLA to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut in July 2020, representing the Kugluktuk electoral district.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Okpik |first1=Abraham |author-link1=Abe Okpik |date=September 29, 2005 |chapter=The Beginning of Aboriginal Political Organizations |title=We Call It Survival |url= http://www.traditional-knowledge.ca/english/pdf/We-Call-It-Survival-E.pdf |volume= Life Stories of Northern Leaders Series Volume One |publisher= Nunavut Arctic College|pages= 317, 326|isbn= 1-896-204-71-6|access-date=July 27, 2020 |quote=...and Leena Pedersen,5 who was an Inuk member of the Legislative Assembly from Coppermine....5. Originally from Greenland, she married Red Pedersen from Cam-bridge Bay.}}</ref><ref>Derek Neary, [https://nunavutnews.com/nunavut-news/new-mlas-acclaimed-in-baker-lake-kugluktuk-race-set-for-pangnirtung-mayor/ "New MLAs acclaimed in Baker Lake, Kugluktuk; race set for Pangnirtung mayor"]. ''Nunavut News'', July 24, 2020.</ref> In the 2025 Nunavut general election their son, Fred Pedersen, was also elected to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut but for the Cambridge Bay electoral district.<ref name=kiaFP>{{cite web |url=https://kitia.ca/news/the-kia-honors-the-late-asger-red-pedersen/ |title=The KIA Honors the Late Asger “Red” Pedersen |publisher=Kitkmeot Inuit Association |website=www.kitia.ca |date=June 9, 2025 |access-date=October 31, 2025}}</ref><ref name=nunnewFP>{{cite web |url=https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/safety-youth-are-priorities-for-cambridge-bay-candidates/ |title=Safety, youth are priorities for Cambridge Bay candidates |publisher=Nunatsiaq News |website=www.nunatsiaq.com |date=October 7, 2025 |access-date=October 31, 2025}}</ref>

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark on November 19, 1935, Pedersen died on May 30, 2025, in Yellowknife.<ref name="hansard">[https://hansard.opennwt.ca/debates/2025/10/21/jane-weyallon-armstrong-5/ Member's Statement 743-20(1): Asger “Red” Pedersen - Celebration of Life]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/mlas-pay-tribute-to-red-pedersen/ |title=MLAs pay tribute to Red Pedersen |date=June 3, 2025 |access-date=June 9, 2025}}</ref>

==Public service== Ten years later, Pedersen became an area administrator for the Canadian government in Coppermine (Kugluktuk), Pangnirtung and Fort Rae (Behchokǫ̀). From 1983 to 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, winning the Kitikmeot West electoral district. He was re-elected in the 1987 Northwest Territories general election. Pedersen was elected Speaker of the Assembly on November 12, 1987, and served that role until October 18, 1989.<ref name="speaker">{{cite web|url=http://www.assembly.gov.nt.ca/visitorinfo/factsheets/speaker.html |title=History of Northwest Territories Speaker 1975-present |publisher=Northwest Territories Legislature |access-date=September 8, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060721233740/http://www.assembly.gov.nt.ca/visitorinfo/factsheets/speaker.html |archive-date=July 21, 2006 }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.assembly.gov.nt.ca/housebusiness/newsreleases/newsreleases2001.html |title=News Releases-2001 |publisher=assembly.gov.nt.ca |date=September 5, 2001 |access-date=October 27, 2007 |archive-date=November 23, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061123062659/http://www.assembly.gov.nt.ca/housebusiness/newsreleases/newsreleases2001.html }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.monitoringagency.net/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=EvDlbnqBU6g%3d&tabid=80&mid=428 |title=Note of Changes to the IEMA Executive |author=Carole Mills |publisher=monitoring agency.net |date=December 4, 2003 |access-date=October 28, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723211517/http://www.monitoringagency.net/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=EvDlbnqBU6g=&tabid=80&mid=428 |archive-date=July 23, 2011}}</ref> He was made an honorary Inuk in 2003.<ref name=kiaFP/>

Pedersen retired from the Canadian Rangers, but his son and grandson continue the tradition.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.assembly.gov.nt.ca/_live/documents/documentManagerUpload/hn030303.pdf |title=Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly |publisher=assembly.gov.nt.ca |date=March 3, 2003 |work=html |access-date=October 28, 2007}} {{dead link|date=January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dnd.ca/site/Feature_Story/2003/mar03/18_f_e.asp |title=Stamp of Approval for Canadian Rangers |publisher=National Defence and the Canadian Forces |author=Scott Costen |access-date=October 28, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041227233552/http://www.dnd.ca/site/Feature_Story/2003/mar03/18_f_e.asp|archive-date=December 27, 2004}}</ref>

In December 2013, Pedersen was acclaimed as mayor of Kugluktuk.<ref name=nunatsiaq101213>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavummiut_elect_new_municipal_leaders/ |title=Nunavummiut elect new municipal leaders |access-date=January 15, 2014 |archive-date=February 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226061346/http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674nunavummiut_elect_new_municipal_leaders }}</ref> In 2016, Pedersen was made a member of the Order of Nunavut.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Zerehi |first=Sima Sahar |date=November 9, 2016 |title=Order of Nunavut names 2016 recipients |work=CBC News |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/order-of-nunavut-2016-1.3842292 |access-date=December 19, 2023}}</ref> He was named a member of the Order of Canada in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rohner |first=Thomas |date=December 31, 2021 |title=Longtime Kugluktuk leader Asger 'Red' Pedersen named to Order of Canada |url=https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/longtime-kugluktuk-leader-asger-red-pedersen-named-to-order-of-canada/ |access-date=December 19, 2023 |website=Nunatsiaq News}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist|3}}

==Partial bibliography== * Pederson, Asgar Rye, and David Repp. [Canada, Northwest Territories, Coppermine Eskimos, 1965]. 1965. Sound recording.

==Further reading== * Waddington, McLean & Co. An Important Sale of Inuit Art Comprising Sculptures in Stone, Bone and Ivory, Lithographs, Engravings and Stone Cut Prints, Including the "Red" Pedersen Collection, the Anne & Gerard Mulders' Collection, and Selections from Local Estates, Institutions and Individuals, to Be Sold in Two Sessions, Monday, December 14, 1981, at 7.00 P.M., Tuesday, December 15, 1981, at 7.00 P.M. Toronto: Waddington, McLean & Co, 1981.

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070922235138/http://www.kitikmeotheritage.ca/Angulalk/hudsons/redpedrs/red.htm Pedersen's early days at Perry River] including recorded interviews in MP3 format.

{{s-start}} {{s-par|ca-nt}} {{succession box|title=MLA Kitikmeot West| before=New District| after=District Abolished| years=1983–1991}} {{succession box| before=Donald Morton Stewart| title=Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories| years=1987–1989| after=Richard Nerysoo| }} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedersen, Red}} Category:1935 births Category:2025 deaths Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories Category:People from Pangnirtung Category:People from Behchoko Category:Danish emigrants to Canada Category:Canadian people of Danish descent Category:Mayors of Kugluktuk Category:Members of the Order of Nunavut Category:Members of the Order of Canada