Bill C-39

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	1st Session, 36th Parliament, 46-47 Elizabeth II, 1997-98
	The House of Commons of Canada
	BILL C-39
	An Act to amend the Nunavut Act and the Constitution Act, 1867
	Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
	PART 1
1993, c. 28; 1995, c. 39; 1996, cc. 10, 30, 31	NUNAVUT ACT
	*1. Section 2 of the Nunavut Act* is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:**
``Tunngavik'' « Tunngavik »	``Tunngavik'' means Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, a corporation without share capital incorporated under Part II of the Canada Corporations Act, R.S.C. 1970, c. C-32, and any successor to that corporation.
	2. Section 14 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Number of members and electoral districts	14. The Legislature may make laws prescribing the number of members of the Assembly and describing and naming the electoral districts in Nunavut.
	3. Subsection 15(2) of the Act is repealed.
	4. Sections 29 and 30 of the Act are replaced by the following:
Laws of Nunavut	29. (1) Subject to this Act, on the day that section 3 comes into force, the ordinances of the Northwest Territories and the laws made under them that have been made, and not repealed, before that day are duplicated to the extent that they can apply in relation to Nunavut, with any modifications that the circumstances require. The duplicates are deemed to be laws of the Legislature and the laws made under them.
Coming into force	(2) Subject to this Act, a law of the Legislature or a law made under it that is a duplicate of an ordinance of the Northwest Territories or a law made under it that is made, but not in force, on the day that section 3 comes into force, comes into force in accordance with its provisions.
Non- application - transmittal and disallowance	(3) Subsection 28(1) does not apply to laws of the Legislature under subsection (1). For the purpose of subsection 28(2), the period for the disallowance of a law that is a duplicate of an ordinance of the Northwest Territories is deemed to begin on the day that the ordinance of the Northwest Territories was made.
Other laws	(4) The laws in force or having effect in the Northwest Territories on the day that section 3 comes into force, other than the ordinances and the laws made under them referred to in subsection (1), continue to be in force or to have effect in Nunavut to the extent that they can apply in Nunavut and in so far as they are not after that time repealed, amended, altered or rendered inoperable in respect of Nunavut.
Rights or privileges	29.1 The coming into force of section 3 does not affect a right, privilege, licence, permit, authorization, approval, certification, registration or filing, or any status provided, before the day that section 3 comes into force, by or under the ordinances of the Northwest Territories. On or after that day, to the extent that it was in force or had effect and applied immediately before that day in relation to Nunavut, it is deemed, in relation to Nunavut, to have been provided by or under the laws of the Legislature.
When no officer in Nunavut	30. (1) If, in or under any Act of Parliament or any law of the Legislature, an officer is designated to perform a function in relation to Nunavut and there is no person designated to perform that function, it may be performed by the person whose functions in relation to Nunavut are the most similar to that function or by any person that the Commissioner may designate to perform the function, and the performance of the function by that person is lawful and valid.
Transmission of documents	(2) If, in or under any Act of Parliament or any law of the Legislature, a document or thing is to be transmitted to a designated officer, court, territorial division or place and there is no person, court, territorial division or place so designated in Nunavut, the Commissioner may designate a person, court, territorial division or place to which the document or thing is to be transmitted or may dispense with the transmission, and the transmission or dispensation of transmission is lawful and valid.
	5. Subsections 31(1) and (2) of the Act are replaced by the following:
Superior courts	31. (1) The Supreme Court of Nunavut and the Court of Appeal of Nunavut are established as superior courts that have and may exercise in relation to Nunavut all the powers and jurisdiction that the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories and the Court of Appeal of the Northwest Territories, respectively, had immediately before the day that section 3 comes into force.
Adminis- tration of justice	(1.1) Subsection (1) does not limit the powers conferred on the Legislature by paragraph 23(1)(e).
Appointment of judges	(2) The Governor in Council shall appoint the judges of the superior courts of Nunavut as described in subsection (1) or as may be established by the laws of the Legislature.
	6. Section 36 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Sittings	36. The Court of Appeal of Nunavut may sit in Nunavut and, unless the laws of the Legislature made after the coming into force of section 3 provide otherwise, in any other place in Canada.
	7. Section 38 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Official languages ordinance	38. The law of the Legislature that, under subsection 29(1), is the duplicate of the ordinance of the Northwest Territories entitled the Official Languages Act may not be repealed, amended or otherwise rendered inoperable by the Legislature without the concurrence of Parliament by way of a resolution, if that repeal, amendment or measure that otherwise renders that law inoperable would have the effect of diminishing the rights and services provided for in that ordinance as enacted on June 28, 1984 and amended on June 26, 1986.
	8. Paragraph 45(b) of the Act is replaced by the following:
	(b) any other information or statements that are required in support of the consolidated financial statements or that are required by the Minister or by or under any law of the Legislature.
	9. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 50:
Leases for Nunavut facilities	50.1 (1) The Minister may, by instrument satisfactory to the Minister of Justice, transfer to the Commissioner the administration and control of the entire interest in any real property held under a lease entered into by the Minister for facilities for the Government of Nunavut or housing for its employees. The Commissioner is deemed to have accepted the transfer on the day the instrument is signed by the Minister.
Effect of transfer	(2) The administration and control is deemed to have been transferred by the Governor in Council.
Limitation	(3) This section applies to a lease only if the instrument effecting the transfer is signed on or before March 31, 2004.
	*10. Section 53 of the Act and the heading ``Interpretation'' before it are repealed.*
	11. Section 71 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (3):
Absence, incapacity or vacancy	(4) In the event of the absence or incapacity of the Interim Commissioner, or if the office of Interim Commissioner is vacant, the Minister may, after consultation with the Government of the Northwest Territories and Tunngavik, appoint a person to act as Interim Commissioner until the Interim Commissioner resumes the exercise of the powers, duties and functions of that office or a replacement Interim Commissioner is appointed under subsection (1).
	12. (1) Paragraph 72(1)(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:
	(a) enter into contracts for employment to begin on or after the day that section 3 comes into force, by the Government of Nunavut with the persons that the Interim Commissioner considers necessary for the operations of that Government;
	(2) Subsection 72(1) of the Act is amended by adding the following after paragraph (b):
	(b.1) assign to a person referred to in paragraph (a) any powers, duties or functions provided for in or under the laws of the Legislature that the person is to have and exercise;
	(3) Section 72 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):
Consultation	(2.1) An assignment referred to in paragraph (1)(b.1) that involves powers, duties or functions under an ordinance of the Northwest Territories entitled the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act or flowing from an appointment made, on the recommendation of the Executive Council or the Council of the Northwest Territories, by the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories is subject to prior consultation by the Interim Commissioner with the Government of the Northwest Territories and Tunngavik.
Assignment of powers, duties and functions	(2.2) The assignment referred to in paragraph (1)(b.1) is deemed to have been made in accordance with the laws that provide for those powers, duties and functions.
	13. (1) Paragraph 73(1)(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:
	(a) with the Government of Canada in respect of federal government programs or other federal responsibilities in relation to Nunavut, including the supply of goods or services;
	(a.1) with the Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories, the government of a province or any person in respect of programs or other responsibilities of the Government of Nunavut, including the supply of goods or services;
	(2) Subsection 73(1) of the Act is amended by striking out the word ``and'' at the end of paragraph (b) and by replacing paragraph (c) with the following:
	(c) with the Government of the Northwest Territories for the division of its assets and liabilities between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, including rights and obligations arising under a contract entered into by the Government of the Northwest Territories; and
	(d) with the Government of the Northwest Territories for the transfer, despite any law or any contractual restriction, of information in its possession to the Government of Nunavut.
	(2.1) Section 73 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):
Tabling of agreement	(1.1) The Commissioner shall cause to be laid before the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut any agreement entered into under subsection (1).
	(3) Subsection 73(3) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Exemption - no approval	(2.1) The approval of the Governor in Council is not required for the Interim Commissioner to enter into an agreement under paragraph (1)(a) or (a.1) if the maximum total amount that the Government of Nunavut must pay under the agreement, including any renewal of the agreement under its terms to which the other party is entitled, is less than the greater of
	(a) $400,000, and
	(b) any other amount that the Governor in Council may, by order, prescribe for those agreements or any category of them.
Termination of agreements	(3) The Government of Nunavut may, by giving notice in writing, terminate any agreement entered into with a government under paragraph (1)(a) or (a.1) at the end of the fiscal year following that in which the notice is given.
	(4) Section 73 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (4):
Consent of affected third party	(5) An agreement entered into under paragraph (1)(c) may affect the rights or obligations of a party that has entered into a contract with the Government of the Northwest Territories only if, before the agreement is entered into, the party consents to being so affected.
Exception - assignment	(6) Despite subsection (5), an agreement entered into under paragraph (1)(c) may assign to the Government of Nunavut any right or obligation of the Government of the Northwest Territories arising under a contract entered into by it with a party that is not a government even if the contract does not allow for, or the party does not consent to, the assignment. The assignment binds the party but, unless the contract allows for the assignment or the party consents to it, the agreement must provide for compensation to the party for costs or losses, if any, arising from the assignment.
Transfer of Information	(7) The possession and use, by the Government of Nunavut, of information transferred under an agreement entered into under paragraph (1)(d) shall be subject to
	(a) the conditions contained in any contract entered into by the Government of the Northwest Territories that apply to the possession and use of the information, as if the Government of Nunavut were a party to the contract;
	(b) the conditions contained in any federal law that apply to the possession and use, by the Government of the Northwest Territories, of the information; and
	(c) all laws of the Legislature that apply to the possession and use of the information.
	14. Section 74 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Powers of Governor in Council	73.1 (1) In the absence of an agreement on a matter under paragraph 73(1)(c), the Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, by order,
	(a) in the case of any property, other than property referred to in section 44 of the Northwest Territories Act, transfer ownership of the property to the Government of Nunavut from the Government of the Northwest Territories; or
	(b) in the case of a contract entered into between the Governments of Canada and the Northwest Territories giving rise to rights or obligations of the Government of the Northwest Territories, terminate the contract.
Consultation and notice	(2) The Minister shall, before making the recommendation, consult with the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Interim Commissioner and shall, after that consultation, notify that Government and the Interim Commissioner of the contents of the recommendation.
Effective date	(3) An order under subsection (1) may be made only on or before the day that section 3 comes into force, but it takes effect on that day.
Carrying out of programs	74. The Government of Canada or the Northwest Territories may carry out any programs in accordance with any agreement entered into under paragraph 73(1)(a.1).
	15. Subsection 75(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Termination of employment	(2) The employment of persons by the Interim Commissioner terminates not later than the day on which the first Commissioner is appointed.
Severance pay	(3) An employee to whom this section applies who becomes employed by a department or portion of government that is a part of the Public Service as defined in subsection 3(1) of the Public Service Superannuation Act within three months after the day that the employment with the Interim Commissioner terminates is not entitled to severance pay for the termination of that employment.
Supply of goods and services	(4) For greater certainty, the Interim Commissioner may enter into contracts for the supply of goods or services considered necessary for the proper conduct of the Interim Commissioner's work.
Supply contracts - coming into force	(5) Subsection (4) is deemed to have come into force on November 26, 1996 and any contract entered into by the Interim Commissioner before this section comes into force is deemed to have been entered into under this Act, to the extent that the Interim Commissioner could enter into the contract under this section.
	16. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 76:

Bill C-39

BILL C-39

PART 1

NUNAVUT ACT