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Bill C-6

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Regulations and Rules

Regulations respecting the use of land

90. The Governor in Council may, following consultation by the federal Minister with first nations, make regulations respecting the protection, control and use of lands in the Mackenzie Valley and, in particular, may make regulations

    (a) prohibiting uses of land or classes of uses except under the authority of permits or, where the regulations so provide, under the written authority of an inspector;

    (b) respecting the issuance, amendment, renewal, suspension, cancellation, and approval of the assignment, of permits;

    (c) respecting eligibility for permits, prescribing the conditions or kinds of conditions that a board may include in permits and respecting the duration of permits;

    (d) providing for the issuance to permittees by a board of authorizations for uses of land not authorized in their permits;

    (e) prescribing the procedure to be followed and forms to be used by applicants for permits, the information to be submitted in connection with applications and the manner of its submission, and respecting the fees to be paid on the filing of applications;

    (f) respecting fees to be paid by permittees in respect of permitted uses of lands belonging to Her Majesty in right of Canada or lands that Her Majesty has power to dispose of, other than such lands the administration and control of which has been transferred by the Governor in Council to the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories;

    (g) prescribing classes to which permits referred to in an instrument of delegation under section 70 must belong;

    (h) specifying the amount, or the manner of determining the amount, of the security referred to in subsection 71(1) or empowering a board to fix the amount of that security, subject to any maximum that may be specified for that purpose, prescribing the form and conditions of the security, and specifying the circumstances and manner in which it shall be refunded;

    (i) prescribing the form of the register to be maintained by a board pursuant to section 72 and the information to be entered in it, and respecting the fees, if any, to be paid to examine the register or to obtain copies from it;

    (j) respecting the power of inspectors to order the taking of measures pursuant to subsection 86(1) or (2);

    (k) authorizing inspectors to enter and inspect lands to which an application relates;

    (l) respecting the restoration of lands to which a permit applies;

    (m) authorizing a board or an inspector to relieve permittees from specified obligations under the regulations; and

    (n) authorizing a board or an inspector to require permittees to submit reports to them on specified matters.

Rules

91. A board may make rules

    (a) specifying the period of time within which compensation agreements referred to in sections 77 and 78 must be entered into; and

    (b) respecting the determination of matters in dispute under section 80.

Offences and Punishment

Principal offences

92. (1) Every person who contravenes any provision of the regulations, any condition of a permit or an order of an inspector under subsection 86(1) or (2) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $15,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both.

Reparation

(2) In addition to the penalty provided by subsection (1), a court that convicts a person of using land without a permit contrary to the regulations may, taking into account the nature of the offence and the circumstances of its commission, order the person to take any measures that it considers reasonable in order to repair or limit any damage resulting from the act or omission that constituted the offence.

Continuing offences

(3) Where an offence under subsection (1) is committed on or continued for more than one day, it is deemed to be a separate offence for each day on which it is committed or continued.

Contravening orders

(4) Every person who contravenes section 87 is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both.

Limitation period

93. Proceedings in respect of an offence under section 92 may not be instituted later than two years after the time when the subject-matter of the proceedings arose.

Exemptions

Posting of security

94. Notwithstanding section 7, Her Majesty in right of Canada and, for greater certainty, the territorial government shall not be required to post security pursuant to section 71.

Fees - first nations

95. Notwithstanding subsection 14(1) of the Northwest Territories Waters Act, the Gwich'in First Nation and Sahtu First Nation are not required to pay any fee in respect of the use of waters or the deposit of waste for non-commercial purposes on their first nation lands.

PART 4

MACKENZIE VALLEY LAND AND WATER BOARD

Interpretation and Application

Definitions

96. (1) The definitions in this subsection apply in this Part.

``Board''
« Office »

``Board'' means the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board established by subsection 99(1).

``licence''
« permis d'utilisation des eaux »

``licence'' means a licence for the use of waters or the deposit of waste, or both, issued by the Board under the Northwest Territories Waters Act and this Part, and ``licensee'' has a corresponding meaning.

``permit''
« permis d'utilisation des terres »

``permit'' means a permit for the use of land issued by the Board under this Part, and ``permittee'' has a corresponding meaning.

Terms defined in Part 3

(2) In this Part, the expressions ``first nation lands'', ``land'' and ``waters'' have the same meaning as in Part 3.

Meaning of ``permit'' in Part 3

(3) For the purposes of this Part, references to a permit in section 90, in the regulations made pursuant to that section and in section 92 include a permit as defined in subsection (1).

National parks and historic sites

97. (1) Subject to paragraph 102(2)(b), this Part does not apply in respect of the use of land or waters or the deposit of waste within a national park, or a reserve for a national park, to which the National Parks Act applies, or within lands acquired pursuant to the Historic Sites and Monuments Act.

Consultation with Board

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), an authority responsible for authorizing uses of land or waters or deposits of waste in a portion of the Mackenzie Valley excluded by that subsection from the application of this Part shall consult the Board before authorizing any such use or deposit.

Consultation with authority

(3) The Board shall consult the responsible authority referred to in subsection (2) before issuing a licence, permit or authorization for a use of land or waters or deposit of waste that may have an effect in the portion of the Mackenzie Valley excluded by subsection (1) from the application of this Part.

Local government jurisdiction

98. (1) This Part does not apply in respect of the use of land within the boundaries of a local government to the extent that the local government regulates that use.

Agreement

(2) The Board and the territorial Minister shall, in consultation with each local government, jointly determine the extent to which the local government regulates the use of land within its boundaries for the purposes of subsection (1).

Dissemination

(3) A determination under subsection (2) shall be made available to the public at the main office of the Board and that of the local government.

Establishment of Board

Board established

99. (1) There is hereby established a board to be known as the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board.

Regional panels

(2) On the coming into force of this Part, a board established for a settlement area by Part 3 continues as a regional panel of the Board under the same name and its members become members of the Board.

Applicable provisions

(3) The provisions of Part 1 respecting the appointment and tenure of members of a board and respecting the chairperson of a board, and the provisions of Part 3 respecting the quorum of a board and its main office, continue to apply to a regional panel.

Composition

(4) In addition to the members of the regional panels referred to in subsection (2) and a chairperson, the Board shall, subject to subsection 108(7), consist of

    (a) three members appointed following consultation by the federal Minister with the first nations;

    (b) one member appointed on the nomination of the territorial Minister; and

    (c) two other members.

Annual meeting

100. The Board shall hold at least one plenary meeting in each year.

Main office

101. The main office of the Board shall be at Yellowknife or at such other place in the Mackenzie Valley as is designated by the Governor in Council.

Mandate of Board

Jurisdiction - Board

102. (1) The Board has jurisdiction in respect of all uses of land or waters or deposits of waste in the Mackenzie Valley for which a permit is required under Part 3 or a licence is required under the Northwest Territories Waters Act, and for that purpose the Board has the powers and duties of a board established under Part 3, other than powers under sections 78 and 79, as if a reference in that Part to a settlement area were a reference to the Mackenzie Valley.

Jurisdiction - regional panels

(2) The regional panel of the Board for a settlement area shall exercise

    (a) the powers and duties referred to in subsection (1) in respect of a use of land or waters or a deposit of waste that is to take place, and that is likely to have an impact, wholly within the settlement area; and

    (b) the powers conferred by sections 78 to 80 on the board established under Part 3 for that settlement area.

Applications to Board

103. (1) An application shall be made to the Board where the application relates to a use of land or waters or a deposit of waste

    (a) that is to take place or is likely to have an impact in more than one settlement area, or in a settlement area and an area outside any settlement area; or

    (b) that is to take place wholly outside any settlement area.

Applications to regional panel

(2) An application relating to a use of land or waters or a deposit of waste described in subsection 102(2), including an application relating to a licence or permit for such a use or deposit issued pursuant to Part 3 before the coming into force of this Part, shall be made to the regional panel of the Board for the settlement area referred to in that subsection.

Copies of panel applications

(3) A regional panel of the Board shall provide the Board with a copy of every application made to the regional panel.

Referral between Board and panels

(4) Where the Board determines that an application made to a regional panel of the Board should have been made to the Board, the Board shall dispose of the application, and where it determines that an application made to it should have been made to a regional panel, it shall refer the application to the regional panel for disposition.

Decisions of regional panels

(5) For greater certainty, a decision made by a regional panel of the Board on an application is a decision of the Board.

Power of chairperson

104. Applications referred to in subsection 103(1) shall be disposed of by three or more members of the Board designated by the chairperson for that purpose, including at least one of the members appointed to a regional panel on the nomination of a first nation or appointed to the Board following consultation with first nations and at least one of the members of the Board not so appointed.

Northwest Territories Waters Act

105. The provisions of the Northwest Territories Waters Act referred to in subsection 60(4) do not apply in respect of any part of the Mackenzie Valley.

Board directions

106. The Board may issue directions on general policy matters or on matters concerning the use of land or waters or the deposit of waste that, in the Board's opinion, require consistent application throughout the Mackenzie Valley.

Cooperation with Other Authorities

Coordination

107. Where a use of land or waters or a deposit of waste proposed by an applicant for a licence or permit is likely to have an impact in an area outside the Mackenzie Valley, whether within or outside the Northwest Territories, the Board may consult any government, aboriginal group or other body responsible for the regulation of such uses or deposits in that area and may, with the approval of the federal Minister, hold joint hearings with or enter into agreements with any of them for the coordination of activities and the avoidance of duplication.