BILL C-8 - First Reading

	1st Session, 36th Parliament, 46 Elizabeth II, 1997
	The House of Commons of Canada
	BILL C-8
	An Act respecting an accord between the Governments of Canada and the Yukon Territory relating to the administration and control of and legislative jurisdiction in respect of oil and gas
Preamble	WHEREAS the Government of Canada and the Government of the Yukon Territory, on May 28, 1993, entered into the Canada-Yukon Oil and Gas Accord, by which the Govern ment of Canada undertook to recommend to Parliament the enactment of legislation for the purposes of the Accord;
	NOW, THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as fol lows:
	SHORT TITLE
Short title	1. This Act may be cited as the Canada-Yu kon Oil and Gas Accord Implementation Act.
R.S., c. Y-2	AMENDMENTS TO YUKON ACT
	2. (1) The definition ``Territory'' in section 2 of the Yukon Act is replaced by the following:
``Territory'' « territoire »	``Territory'' means the Yukon Territory, com prising the area described in Schedule 1 .
	(2) Section 2 of the Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:
``adjoining area'' « zone adjacente »	``adjoining area'' means the area outside the Territory and landward of the northern limit described in Schedule 2;
``gas'' « gaz »	``gas'' means natural gas and all substances produced in association with natural gas, but does not include oil or coal-bed meth ane;
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``oil'' « pétrole »	``oil'' means
	(a) crude petroleum, regardless of grav ity, produced at a well-head in liquid form, and
	(b) any other hydrocarbons, except coal, gas and coal-bed methane, including hydrocarbons that may be extracted or recovered from surface or subsurface deposits of oil sand, bitumen, bituminous sand or oil shale or from other types of deposits;
``oil and gas interest'' « droit pétrolier ou gazier »	``oil and gas interest'' means a right conferred for the purposes of exploration for, or pro duction of, oil or gas or both;
``territorial oil and gas minister'' « ministre territorial responsable des ressources pétrolières et gazières »	``territorial oil and gas minister'' means the member of the Executive Council of the Territory designated by the Commissioner as the member having primary responsibil ity for oil and gas;
``Yukon oil and gas laws'' « ordonnance pétrolière ou gazière »	``Yukon oil and gas laws'' means ordinances made in respect of oil or gas pursuant to sec tion 17 or 17.1.
	3. Section 17 of the Act is renumbered as subsection 17(1) and is amended by adding the following:
Oil and gas in adjoining area	(2) Any powers of the Commissioner in Council under subsection (1) in respect of oil and gas extend to the adjoining area.
	4. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 17:
Ordinances relating to oil and gas	17.1 (1) The Commissioner in Council may, subject to this Act and any other Act of Parliament, make ordinances in relation to
	(a) exploration for oil or gas in the Territory and the adjoining area;
	(b) development, conservation and man agement of oil or gas in the Territory and the adjoining area, including ordinances in relation to the rate of primary production therefrom; and
	(c) oil or gas pipelines, other than pipelines connecting the Territory with any other part of Canada or extending beyond the limits of the Territory.
Export of oil and gas	(2) The Commissioner in Council may, subject to this Act and any other Act of Parliament, make ordinances in relation to the export, from the Territory or the adjoining area to another part of Canada, of the primary production from oil or gas in the Territory or the adjoining area, but such ordinances may not authorize or provide for discrimination in prices or in supplies exported to another part of Canada.
Taxation of oil and gas	(3) The Commissioner in Council may, subject to this Act and any other Act of Parliament, make ordinances in relation to the raising of money by any mode or system of taxation in respect of oil or gas in the Territory or the adjoining area and the primary produc tion therefrom, whether or not such produc tion is exported in whole or in part from the Territory or that area, but such ordinances may not authorize or provide for taxation that differentiates between production exported to another part of Canada and production not exported from the Territory or that area.
Meaning of primary production	(4) For the purposes of this section, produc tion of oil or gas is primary production if
	(a) it is in a form in which it exists upon its recovery or severance from its natural state; or
	(b) it is a product resulting from processing or refining the oil or gas and is not a manufactured product or a product result ing from refining crude oil, refining up graded heavy crude oil or refining a synthet ic equivalent of crude oil.
Existing powers or rights	(5) Nothing in subsections (1) to (4) dero gates from any powers or rights that the Commissioner in Council has under any other provision of this Act.
	5. Section 18 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Restrictions on powers	18. Nothing in section 17 or 17.1 shall be construed as giving the Commissioner in Council greater powers with respect to any class of subjects described in those sections than are given to legislatures of the provinces under sections 92, 92A and 95 of the Constitu tion Act, 1867 with respect to similar classes of subjects described in those sections .
	6. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 22:
	Restriction of Oil and Gas Interests in Certain Areas
Prohibition	22.1 (1) No oil and gas interest may be granted pursuant to Yukon oil and gas laws, and no activities may be authorized pursuant to Yukon oil and gas laws, in or on any public lands or lands in the adjoining area that are designated under subsection (2), other than excepted interests or activities of a class specified under that subsection.
Lands that may be designated	(2) Not earlier than 60 days and not later than 120 days after the publication of a notice under subsection (3), the Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister and any other federal minister who has the admin istration of the lands, may designate public lands or lands in the adjoining area and specify classes of excepted interests in or activities on those lands where, in the opinion of those ministers, the existence of oil and gas interests or the conduct of activities pursuant to Yukon oil and gas laws, other than interests or activities so excepted, would be incompatible with or would interfere with
	(a) any use to which the Government of Canada intends the lands to be put, includ ing, in particular, their use as a national park or an airport or their use for purposes of national defence or navigation;
	(b) the exercise, in relation to those lands, of any powers of the Government of Canada, including, in particular, powers respecting national security or the protec tion of the environment; or
	(c) the settlement of an aboriginal land claim or the implementation of such a settlement.
Publication of notice	(3) Notice of a proposed designation, including a description of the lands to be designated and any classes of excepted inter ests or activities, shall be published in the Canada Gazette.
Notification of territorial minister	(4) The Minister shall give notice to the territorial oil and gas minister of a proposed designation before the publication of the notice under subsection (3).
Considera- tion of views	(5) Before ministers recommend the desig nation of lands to the Governor in Council, they shall consider any views of the territorial oil and gas minister and of members of the public with respect to the proposed designa tion received during the period of 60 days following the publication of the notice under subsection (3).
Where designation modified	(6) Where the requirements of subsections (3) and (4) have been satisfied, no further notice is required for a designation that varies from the proposed designation only in that
	(a) not all the lands described in the notice are designated; or
	(b) classes of excepted interests or activities are specified that were not described in the notice.
Interim prohibition	(7) No oil and gas interest may be granted pursuant to Yukon oil and gas laws, and no activities may be authorized pursuant to Yukon oil and gas laws, in or on lands described in a notice of a proposed designa tion, other than interests or activities of such excepted classes as may be specified in the notice, for a period of 120 days following the publication of the notice under subsection (3) or until the publication, during that period, of a notice in the Canada Gazette of the Minis ter's intention not to recommend the proposed designation.
Publication of notice of designation	(8) When lands are designated by the Governor in Council, a notice of the designa tion containing a description of the designated lands and of any classes of excepted interests or activities shall be published in the Canada Gazette.
	Consistent Exercise of Powers
Exercise of federal powers	22.2 The Government of Canada, including its agencies, shall exercise any powers in respect of the management of public lands and lands in the adjoining area in a manner consistent with the powers of the Government of the Territory, including its agencies, in respect of oil and gas to the extent that the objectives of the Government of Canada in so exercising its powers are not compromised.
	7. Subsection 47(1) of the Act is amended by striking out the word ``and'' at the end of paragraph (c), by adding the word ``and'' at the end of paragraph (d) and by adding the following after paragraph (d):
	(e) any oil and gas in the adjoining area, the administration and control of which has been transferred by the Governor in Council to the Commissioner.
1993, c. 41, s. 18	8. Section 47.1 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Transfer to Commissioner	47.1 The Governor in Council may transfer to the Commissioner, either in perpetuity or for any lesser term, the administration and control of the entire or any lesser interest in any public lands, or the administration and control of any oil and gas in the adjoining area.
Settlement of land claims affecting oil and gas	47.2 (1) For purposes of the settlement of an aboriginal land claim or the implementation of such a settlement, the Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, take from the Commissioner the administra tion and control of any oil and gas in public lands, or in lands in the adjoining area.
Notification	(2) At least 60 days before the Governor in Council takes the administration and control of oil and gas, the Minister shall notify the territorial oil and gas minister of the proposed taking.
Considera- tion of views	(3) Before recommending the taking of the administration and control of oil and gas, the Minister shall consider any views with respect to the proposed taking received from the territorial oil and gas minister during the period of 60 days following the notification under subsection (2).
Modification after notice	(4) Where the Minister has notified the territorial oil and gas minister of a proposed taking, no further notification is required if administration and control are taken of only a portion of the oil and gas.
	9. The heading of the schedule to the Act is replaced by the following:
	SCHEDULE 1 (Section 2)
	DESCRIPTION OF YUKON TERRITORY
	10. The Act is amended by adding the following after Schedule 1:
	SCHEDULE 2 (Section 2)
	NORTHERN LIMIT OF ADJOINING AREA
	All topographic features hereinafter referred to being according to the Gazetteer of Canada (Yukon Territory), Fifth Edition, Ottawa, 1988, and Canadian Hydrographic Service Charts 7661 (Demarcation Bay to Phillips Bay, 21st edition) and 7662 (Mackenzie Bay, 33rd edition), produced at a scale of 1:150,000 by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans at Ottawa.
	A line following the ordinary low water mark of the northern coast of the mainland of the Yukon Territory, except
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	(a) at any coastal indentation such as a bay, lagoon, arm, cove, basin or other inlet: a straight line across the entrance of the indentation at the ordinary low water mark, provided
	(i) the line measures 4 kilometres or less, and
	(ii) the area of the indentation, including any islands or parts of islands lying within the indentation, is greater than that of a semicircle whose diameter is the straight line;
	(b) at Philips Bay: a straight line from the most easterly point on the ordinary low water mark on the northwesterly extremity of the entrance of the said Bay near Stokes Point to the most northwesterly point on the ordinary low water mark on the northeaster ly extremity of the entrance of the said Bay near Kay Point; and
	(c) at Shoalwater Bay: a straight line from the most northeasterly point on the ordinary low water mark on the westerly extremity of the entrance of the said Bay to the most westerly point on the ordinary low water mark on the easterly extremity of the entrance of the said Bay.