Shrinkage

Once upon a time, Canada's Northwest Territories covered a much larger area than it does now, including what are currently Alberta, Saskatchewan, Yukon, Nunavut, most of Manitoba, most of northern Ontario, and most of northern Quebec. The territory is only a small fraction of what it used to be. I think it's about time we drop the plural and just call it Northwest Territory.

(Considering the fact that it's not even the westernmost of the territories (that honour goes to Yukon), it might even be considered more appropriate to call it Northern Territory. However, this name is already taken by the Northern Territory in Australia, which is somewhat larger and has more than five times the population. The name "Northern Territory" should therefore be avoided since the superior size and population of Australia's territory would inevitably result in taunts of "That's not a Northern Territory! This is a Northern Territory!")