Bill S-14

1st Session, 36th Parliament,

46-47 Elizabeth II, 1997-98

senate of canada

BILL S-14

An Act providing for self-government by the first nations of Canada

WHEREAS history records that the Crown entered into legal relations with certain nations, bodies or tribes of Indians;

AND WHEREAS the Parliament of Canada subsequently passed certain laws in relation to Indians and lands reserved for the Indians;

AND WHEREAS these laws have created a cumbersome, expensive and inefficient system of administration over Indians and their lands;

AND WHEREAS it is proper, expedient and in the public interest that such nations, bodies or tribes of Indians be free to administer, regulate and manage their own communities, lands and resources and exercise the appropriate tools of governance over their lands and peoples;

NOW, THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

short title

1. This Act may be cited as the First Nations Government Act.

interpretation

2. (1) In this Act,

“citizen”, in relation to the First Nation, means a citizen of the First Nation and, with reference to a matter or circumstance prior in time to the day the First Nation came under this Act, includes a member of the community comprising the First Nation;

“community” means a body of indigenous people recognized as a band, tribe, nation or other body of indigenous people

(a) by any treaty or agreement with the Crown,

(b) under the Indian Act or by any other Act of Parliament, or

(c) by any order of a court of competent jurisdiction;

“constitution” means the constitution of the First Nation;

“First Nation” means a community that has come under this Act and, in relation to matters or circumstances prior in time to the day the community came under this Act, includes that community as at that time;

“lands of the First Nation” means

(a) lands referred to in section 16 that pass to the First Nation under that section,

(b) lands acquired or owned by the First Nation before or after it came under this Act that are declared by the Governor-in-Council to be its lands,

(c) any lands acquired by the First Nation, before or after it came under this Act, pursuant to a successful claim asserted in connection with reserve lands or a negotiated settlement of any such claim, and

(d) any lands acquired by the First Nation, before or after it came under this Act, as compensation for the expropriation of any land referred in paragraph (a),

and for greater certainty, lands of the First Nation designated for administration by any body corporate and politic created under the laws of the First Nation do not cease to be lands of the First Nation merely by reason of that designation;

“territorial link” has the meaning given by subsection 14(2);

“reserves”

(a) means tracts of land vested in the Crown that had been set apart by the Crown for the use and benefit of Indians, and

(b) includes surrendered lands and designated lands within the meaning of the Indian Act.

(2) This Act shall be read in respect of each community that comes under this Act as a special Act applying to that community.

statement of purposes

3. The purposes of this Act are to enable the communities of indigenous people inhabiting lands reserved for Indian communities to exercise the jurisdiction and powers inherent in their status and to enunciate the status, jurisdiction and powers of those communities.

PART I

SELF-GOVERNMENT

Preliminaries

4. (1) When a community proposes to come under this Act, the community must, by way of a referendum held in accordance with regulations under the Indian Act governing referendums, refer the proposal, together with a draft constitution, to the electors of the community for their approval.

(2) For the purposes of the proposal, an elector of a community is a natural person who

(a) at the time of the referendum referred to in subsection (1) was entitled to vote for or to select the governing body of the community, or

(b) is recognized by a majority of those referred to in paragraph (a) as entitled to vote in that referendum.

(3) A proposal must contain at least the following information:

(a) the identification of the community;

(b) the name proposed for the community when it comes under this Act;

(c) details of the reserves and other lands that constitute the territory of the community;

(d) details of the treaties and agreements previously entered into between the Crown in any right and the community, or on its behalf;

(e) a general description of the tribal patrimony and other resources available to the community and the manner, in general terms, by which it is anticipated the community will finance itself immediately and in the future;

(f) the approximate number of electors qualified to vote on the proposal;

(g) the name of the person who will be appointed electoral officer to conduct the referendum on the proposal, and the names of a reasonable number of persons to act as replacement electoral officers in case the person earlier so named is unable to conduct the referendum; and

(h) the names of the electors who will be the governing body when the community comes under this Act.

(4) The draft constitution accompanying the proposal may be a copy of the constitution set out in Schedule I or a modification of that constitution; but a modification of the constitution must, consistent with this Act, make provision for

(a) a citizenship code that, having regard to section 40, includes the requirements for citizenship and the procedure for determining whether a person is a citizen;

(b) a governing body and its composition, principal administrative officer, tenure of office, powers, duties and procedures;

(c) how the laws of the First Nation are to be enacted and promulgated;

(d) a system of reporting, through audits or otherwise, by which the governing body and its members are financially accountable to the citizens;

(e) the amendment of the constitution by the citizens;

(f) the rules and procedures relating to the selection of the members of the governing body, and the holding of referendums;

(g) the procedures for calling annual general and other assemblies of the citizens and the matters to be placed before them for approval or deliberation;

(h) the rules and procedures to be followed in respect of rights and interests in the lands that will be lands of the First Nation if the community comes under this Act; and

(i) other matters provided for in Schedule I relating to government, citizens or lands.

(5) A defect or omission that is not of a substantial nature in a matter preliminary to the holding of a referendum on a proposal does not invalidate the referendum or its outcome.

Coming Under Act

5. (1) When a proposal for a community to come under this Act and a draft constitution have been referred to the electors of the community and more than fifty per cent of all the electors approve the proposal and the draft constitution,

(a) the community comes under this Act as a self-governing polity

(i) on the day specified therefor in the proposal or ninety days after the referendum if the proposal contains no specified day,

(ii) under the name approved by the referendum, and

(iii) with the constitution approved by the referendum; and

(b) the persons who are the governing body of the community on the date of the referendum shall forthwith cause a notice of the approval of the proposal to be published in the Canada Gazette.

(2) The community described in paragraph (1)(a) is hereinafter in this Act referred to as the First Nation.

6. The First Nation has perpetual succession and the capacity of a natural person and all powers, rights and privileges necessary for the performance of its functions or ancillary or incidental thereto.

Transitional Provisions

7. (1) The members of the governing body of the community who were in office pursuant to the Indian Act, or any other Act of Parliament, immediately before the community comes under this Act, are the governing body of the First Nation.

(2) A member of the governing body referred to in subsection (1) is deemed to have been duly selected or elected, pursuant and subject to the constitution, as a member of the governing body of the First Nation for a five-year term commencing on the day on which the member last took office on that governing body.

(3) The persons who were officers and employees of the community on the day immediately before the community comes under this Act are deemed to be the duly appointed officers and employees of the First Nation until confirmed or removed by the governing body thereof.

Legislative Powers

8. (1) The First Nation is hereby recognized as having the power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the First Nation and, in particular, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, may make laws respecting the subject-matters enumerated in Schedule II, subject to any restrictions on the law-making power in the constitution.

(2) Unless otherwise provided for in the constitution, the laws of the First Nation shall be enacted by the principal administrative officer of the First Nation by and with the advice and consent of the governing body of the First Nation.

9. The Statutory Instruments Act does not apply to a law of the First Nation, to its constitution or to any rules and resolutions of the governing body of the First Nation .

10. A law of the First Nation applies only within the territory comprising the lands of the First Nation unless otherwise provided for in this Act or in a law of the First Nation made in relation to a subject-matter in items 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 or 33 of Schedule II.

11. (1) A maximum fine or maximum term of imprisonment imposed by or under any law of the First Nation may not exceed the maximum fine and maximum term of imprisonment generally applicable to offences punishable on summary conviction under the Criminal Code.

(2) For the avoidance of doubt and without limiting the generality of subsection 8(1), when a law of the First Nation is contravened and a conviction entered, the court in which the conviction has been entered, and any court of competent jurisdiction there-after, may, in addition to any other remedy and to any penalty imposed by the law, make an order prohibiting the continuation or repetition of the offence by the person convicted, and such an order may be made at the instance of or without the involvement of the First Nation.

12. Every fine, penalty, victim surcharge, tax or forfeiture and interest thereon imposed under a law of the First Nation or pursuant to this Act in respect of the First Nation belongs to the First Nation.

13. The First Nation has exclusive jurisdiction in relation to the laying of charges and the prosecution of persons who contravene its laws.

14. (1) Subject to any laws made pursuant to this Act, a court of summary jurisdiction in a province having a territorial link with the First Nation has jurisdiction with respect to the enforcement of the laws of the First Nation and with respect to matters arising from those laws.

(2) A province has a territorial link with the First Nation if the lands or any portion of the lands of the First Nation are within the geographical boundaries of the province.

15. Subject to any laws made pursuant to this Act, a court of competent jurisdiction in a province having a territorial link with the First Nation has jurisdiction with respect to this Act and the laws of the First Nation and with respect to matters arising from this Act or those laws.

PART II

INDIAN LANDS AND MONEYS

16. The absolute ownership of its reserves and such other of its lands as are lands reserved for the Indians within the meaning of section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867, passes to the First Nation on the day the First Nation comes under this Act, subject to the rights, interests and conditions referred to in section 17.

17. (1) The passing of absolute ownership of land to the First Nation under section 16 does not operate to affect any lawfully acquired rights, obligations or interests in those lands at the time the First Nation comes under this Act, except to replace references to the Crown by references to the First Nation.

(2) All instruments evidencing existing rights or obligations referred to in subsection (1), hereinafter referred to as “existing rights”, shall be presumed to be instruments issued by the First Nation in respect of the existing rights until those instruments are replaced by instruments issued in respect of the existing rights by the First Nation to the holders of the existing rights.

(3) When an instrument is issued by the First Nation to a holder of existing rights pursuant to subsection (2), the instrument conveys the existing rights unchanged, unless changes in the terms and conditions of the existing rights are agreed upon by the holder thereof and the First Nation.

(4) This section does not terminate any accrued rights of the Government of Canada or the First Nation including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, any accrued rights in respect of operations conducted on lands of the First Nation before the First Nation came under this Act.

(5) Within a reasonable time after the First Nation comes under this Act, the First Nation shall request the Government of Canada to provide a full and complete audited accounting in respect of all transactions involving reserves, interests pertaining to reserves, or any other assets of the First Nation, excluding moneys, in order to facilitate the early and orderly discharge of the responsibilities of the Crown in respect of those transactions.

18. No citizen has any right or power to claim any interest in or to dispose of, encumber, sever or require a transfer of any interest in the lands and assets of the First Nation, except to the extent that an interest in those lands or assets has been granted or transferred by the First Nation to the citizen pursuant to subsection 19(1).

19. (1) Although the First Nation has the full and exclusive power to dispose of and encumber any of its lands and any rights or interests therein and to permit persons to occupy, use or reside on those lands or otherwise exercise any rights in respect of those lands, the First Nation may not exercise any of those powers except in conformity with the constitution and laws of the First Nation.

(2) No disposition by any person of any interest in lands of the First Nation by way of lease or transfer or otherwise, nor any licence in respect of those lands, is valid unless it is made with the express written consent of the governing body of the First Nation.

(3) Notwithstanding any other Act, no interest in lands of the First Nation or any portion thereof may be expropriated by the Crown or any person other than the First Nation without the consent of the First Nation.

20. (1) The First Nation may by law authorize the registration of estates and interests in lands of the First Nation specified in the law and, for that purpose, may apply any laws of a province having a territorial link with the First Nation.

(2) All estates and interests in lands of the First Nation that are not subject to a law made pursuant to subsection (1) continue to be registrable in the Reserve Land Register maintained pursuant to section 21 of the Indian Act.

21. It is declared for greater certainty that lands of the First Nation are lands reserved for the Indians within the meaning of section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867.

22. (1) For the avoidance of doubt, it is declared that

(a) the First Nation remains the beneficial owner of all moneys that, on the day the community constituting the First Nation comes under this Act, are held by the Crown for the use and benefit of that community; and

(b) the First Nation continues to be the beneficial owner of all moneys that, after the day the community constituting the First Nation comes under this Act, are received by the Crown for the use and benefit of that community.

(2) The First Nation is not responsible for the moneys described in subsection (1), nor does the Crown cease to be responsible for those moneys, until the control of the moneys has, after a suitable accounting, been transferred to the First Nation.

(3) No citizen has, by reason only of citizenship in the First Nation, any claim to, or any power to dispose of, encumber, sever or require a transfer of any interest in, any of the moneys of the First Nation.

(4) All moneys beneficially owned by the First Nation and all accretions thereto are deemed always to be situated on lands of the First Nation.

(5) For the purposes of this section, a “suitable accounting” means a full and complete accounting, by means of an audit conducted by an independent auditor in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards, of all moneys, including interest thereon, received, disbursed or held, or that should have been received, disbursed or held, for the use and benefit of the First Nation.

23. (1) Section 87 of the Indian Act as it read on the commencement of this Act applies, subject to subsections (2) and (3) and with such modifications as the circumstances require, to the First Nation and its citizens as if the references in that section to a band or a reserve were a reference to the First Nation or lands of the First Nation.

(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), the reference in section 87 of the Indian Act to section 83 of that Act is a reference to this Act and the laws of the First Nation.

(3) Section 87 of the Indian Act applies in respect of an Indian corporation as though it were a citizen.

(4) An Indian corporation is a corporation incorporated under a law of Canada or a province, or under a law of the First Nation, that carries on business exclusively on lands of the First Nation or on any reserve, or on both, and of which each shareholder is either

(a) the First Nation, a citizen, or another community or a member of another community, or any combination thereof or a body corporate that is controlled by, or the shares of which are beneficially or legally owned by, any of the foregoing, or any combination thereof; or

(b) a person who holds all the shares of the corporation for the benefit of the First Nation, a citizen, or another community or a member of another community, or any combination thereof.

24. Subject to this Act, and to the constitution and laws of the First Nation and to any agreement to the contrary in respect of personal property to which the governing body of the First Nation has given its written consent,

(a) no interest in lands of the First Nation and no personal property situated on those lands and belonging to the First Nation, to a citizen, another community, an Indian within the meaning of the Indian Act, or an Indian corporation as defined in subsection 23(4), and

(b) no interest in reserve lands and no personal property situated on a reserve and belonging to the First Nation, a citizen, or an Indian corporation as defined in subsection 23(4),

may be mortgaged or otherwise encumbered as security, nor is it subject to any mode of civil execution, except in favour of the First Nation, a citizen, another community, an Indian within the meaning of the Indian Act, or an Indian corporation as defined in subsection 23(4).

25. A person who sells anything to the First Nation, a citizen, another community, an Indian within the meaning of the Indian Act, or an Indian corporation as defined in subsection 23(4), under an agreement whereby a right of property or right of possession to the thing remains wholly or in part in the seller, may exercise the seller’s rights under the agreement notwithstanding that the thing is situated on land referred to in section 24.

26. For the purposes of sections 22 to 25, personal property that was

(a) purchased

(i) by the Crown in right of Canada with First Nation moneys or with moneys appropriated by Parliament, or

(ii) by the First Nation with its moneys or with moneys appropriated by Parliament

for the use and benefit of the First Nation or its citizens, or

(b) given to citizens or to the First Nation under a treaty or agreement between the First Nation and the Crown, or in satisfaction of a claim,

is deemed always to be situated on lands of the First Nation.

27. Every transaction purporting to pass title to any property that is deemed to be situated on lands of the First Nation, or any interest in such property, is void unless the transaction is entered into with the consent of the First Nation or is entered into between citizens, an Indian corporation as defined in subsection 23(4), or any combination of those parties.

PART III

ORGANIZATIONAL OPTIONS

28. (1) The First Nation may authorize the division of the First Nation or its amalgamation with any other community of Indians that has come under this Act.

(2) A division of the First Nation or the amalgamation of the First Nation may be effected only with the approval of the electors of the First Nation, as the electors are defined by the constitution of the First Nation, in a referendum in which at least eighty per cent of all the electors entitled to do so vote in favour of the division or amalgamation.

29. (1) The First Nation may be party to a plan, in this section called a “confederation plan”, to establish a body politic to become the recipient of delegated administrative and legislative powers from communities that have come under this Act and are parties to the confederation plan.

(2) A confederation plan becomes effective when the governing bodies of the parties thereto have obtained an amendment to their respective constitutions to effect the plan.

(3) The body politic established pursuant to subsection (1) has the capacity and powers of a natural person.

(4) During the term of a confederation plan, the First Nation may not exercise any of the powers delegated by it for the purposes of the plan except as provided for in its constitution as amended for the purposes of the plan.

PART IV

ADMINISTRATION

30. (1) For greater certainty,

(a) nothing in this Act abrogates or derogates from any existing legal rights or any existing aboriginal or treaty rights of the First Nation, its citizens or any other aboriginal peoples of Canada;

(b) nothing in this Act abrogates or derogates from any existing or future claim of the First Nation; and

(c) nothing in this Act nor any action taken thereunder is a waiver of either

(i) the status of citizens as Indians within the meaning of section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867, or

(ii) any existing aboriginal or treaty rights of any Band of Indians or its members.

(2) This Act binds the Crown in right of Canada or a province.

(3) This Act is declared remedial for the purposes of section 12 of the Interpretation Act.

(4) The Canadian Human Rights Act does not apply in respect of anything done under this Act.

31. (1) No individual is personally liable for any debt, obligation or act of the First Nation by reason only of being a member of its governing body unless the debt, obligation or act is in contravention of this Act, the constitution or a law of the First Nation and the individual knowingly consents to, authorizes or engages in the contravention.

(2) No individual is personally liable for any debt, obligation or act of the First Nation by reason only of being a citizen.

32. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the provisions of the Indian Act or any other Act specifically applicable to Indians or any band, tribe or nation of Indians, and the regulations made thereunder, do not apply to the First Nation, its citizens, lands, moneys or assets.

(2) In the absence of any applicable provisions in the constitution of the First Nation or any law thereof, the Indian Band Election Regulations, the Indian Referendum Regulations, or the Indian Band Council Procedure Regulations, as the case may be, made under the Indian Act and as they read on the day the First Nation comes under this Act apply to the First Nation with such modifications as the circumstances require.

(3) In the absence of a law of the First Nation, section 114, paragraphs 115(a), (b) and (c) and sections 116 to 122 of the Indian Act apply to the First Nation as if the references in those sections to the Minister, a band or a reserve were, respectively, references to the governing body of the First Nation, the First Nation or lands of the First Nation, and with such other modifications as the circumstances require.

(4) Sections 42 to 50 of the Indian Act apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to the First Nation and its citizens in the absence of any law of the First Nation in relation to the matters provided for in those sections.

(5) Section 51 of the Indian Act applies in respect of the property of dependent adult citizens until the provisions of that section are replaced by laws of the First Nation that are no less favourable in respect of the adult dependent citizen than the provisions of the Indian Act.

(6) Sections 52 and 52.2 to 52.5 of the Indian Act apply in respect of the property of minor children of citizens until those provisions are replaced by laws of the First Nation that are no less favourable in respect of the minor children than those provisions of the Indian Act.

(7) Section 87 of the Indian Act applies to the First Nation, its citizens, and in respect of the properties of the First Nation and its citizens.

(8) Sections 5 to 7 of the Indian Act apply in respect of the registration of citizens as Indians and the determination of which citizens are entitled to be so registered.

33. (1) The First Nation may incorporate in its laws any provision of the Indian Act or any other Act of Parliament that is

(a) specifically applicable to Indians or the lands reserved for the Indians, and

(b) not within the legislative power of the First Nation.

(2) A law of the First Nation that incorporates a provision of an Act referred in subsection (1) may modify the provision to the extent necessary to express the law in language compatible with the laws of the First Nation but without changing the substance of the provision.

(3) When the provision of an Act referred to in subsection (1) is incorporated into a law of the First Nation, the law has the like effect as though it were expressly embodied in this Act.

(4) After its making, a law described in subsection (1)

(a) may be repealed at any time by the First Nation, but

(b) may be amended only to reflect any changes made by Parliament in the provision of the Act that was incorporated in the law,

and subsections (2) and (3) apply to any amendment of that law.

34. (1) Except to the extent that it is inconsistent with a provision of this Act, a law of the Parliament of Canada of general application applies to the First Nation, its citizens and its lands, subject to the terms of any treaty or land claims agreement.

(2) Subject to the terms of any treaty or land claims agreement, a law of the Parliament of Canada of general application that relates to a subject-matter enumerated in section 91 of the Constitution Act, 1867, does not apply to the First Nation, its citizens or its lands to the extent that the law is inconsistent with the constitution of the First Nation or a law of the First Nation unless that law of general application

(a) would apply in like circumstances within a province with which the First Nation has a territorial link,

(b) deals with a distinct subject-matter that, by its inherent nature, is of concern to Canada as a whole and is beyond local or provincial control, or

(c) is a temporary and extraordinary law passed to deal with an emergency.

(3) Subject to the terms of any treaty or land claims agreement, a law of the Parliament of Canada of general application that relates to a subject-matter enumerated in section 92 of the Constitution Act, 1867, does not apply to the First Nation, its citizens, or its lands to the extent that the law is inconsistent with the constitution of the First Nation or a law of the First Nation unless that law of general application

(a) deals with a distinct subject-matter that, by its inherent nature, is of concern to Canada as a whole and is beyond local or provincial control, or

(b) is a temporary and extraordinary law dealing with an emergency,

and it is not a law coming within any of the classes of subjects enumerated in section 91 of the Constitution Act, 1867.

(4) A law of general application of a province having a territorial link with the First Nation applies to citizens of the First Nation on lands of the First Nation within the territorial area of that province to the extent only that any such law is not inconsistent with a term of a treaty with the First Nation or with this or any other Act of Parliament, or with the constitution or a law of the First Nation or any applicable land claims agreement.

35. Except to the extent of any inconsistency with this Act, any law of the First Nation or any provision of its constitution, a by-law of the First Nation that is in force immediately before the First Nation comes under this Act continues in force as a law of the First Nation until replaced by a law enacted pursuant to this Act.

36. Unless a law of the First Nation otherwise provides, the Indian Oil and Gas Act and regulations made thereunder apply to the First Nation, the lands of the First Nation, its governing body, its citizens, its agents, whether incorporated or not, and to an Indian corporation wholly owned by the First Nation.

37. Unless a law of the First Nation otherwise provides, the Canada Lands Survey Act and regulations made thereunder apply to lands of the First Nation.

38. (1) The environmental standards established by or under any Act of Parliament apply in respect of the lands of the First Nation, until the First Nation enacts its own environmental laws, subject to subsection (2).

(2) The First Nation may, by law,

(a) apply the environmental standards of a province having a territorial link with the First Nation, or

(b) establish other environmental standards for the lands of the First Nation, if the environmental standards so established are no less stringent and no less protective of the environment than the least stringent of the environmental standards referred to in subsection (1) and the standards of a province referred to in paragraph (a).

SAVING

39. (1) If the governing body of the First Nation requests by resolution that the Governor in Council do so, the Governor in Council may, by proclamation, declare any of the following provisions of this Act not applicable to the First Nation or a citizen, namely, sections 11 to 15, subsections 19(1) and (2) and sections 24 and 25.

(2) A declaration made under subsection (1) may be made to apply to the First Nation generally or in respect of a specified transaction and indefinitely or for a stated period.

(3) A declaration made under subsection (1) may, with the approval of the First Nation, be revoked at any time by proclamation of the Governor in Council.

40. (1) A person who had a right to membership or citizenship in the community comprising the First Nation immediately before that community first acquired or assumed control of its membership or citizenship from the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development under the Indian Act, any other Act of Parliament or this Act, may not be deprived of citizenship by reason only of a situation that existed, or an action that was taken, before the community first acquired or assumed control of its membership or citizenship from the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply where its application would conflict with an existing aboriginal or treaty right.

consequential amendments

Canada Assistance Plan

41. (1) The definition “band” in section 10 of the Canada Assistance Plan is amended by striking out the word “or” at the end of paragraph (c), by adding the word “or” at the end of paragraph (d) and by adding the following after paragraph (d):

(2) The definition “council” in section 10 of the said Act is amended by striking out the word “or” at the end of paragraph (c), by adding the word “or” at the end of paragraph (d) and by adding the following after paragraph (d):

(3) The definition “reserve” in section 10 of the said Act is amended by striking out the word “or” at the end of paragraph (c), by adding the word “or” at the end of paragraph (d) and by adding the following after paragraph (d):

Fishing and Recreational Harbours Act

42. The definition “agency” in section 2 of the Fishing and Recreational Harbours 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):

Lobbyists Registration Act

43. Subsection 4(1) of the Lobbyists Registration Act is amended by adding the following after paragraph (d.1):

Municipal Grants Act

44. The definition “taxing authority” in subsection 2(1) of the Municipal Grants Act is amended by striking out the word “or” at the end of paragraph (d), by adding the word “or” at the end of paragraph (e) and by adding the following after paragraph (e):

National Housing Act

45. (1) The definition “Indian” in section 2 of the National Housing Act is replaced by the following:

“Indian” means an Indian, as defined in the Indian Act, or a citizen under the First Nations Government Act;

(2) The definition “Indian band” in section 2 of the said Act is amended by striking out the word “or” at the end of paragraph (c), by adding the word “or” at the end of paragraph (d) and by adding the following after paragraph (d):

(3) The definition “reserve” in section 2 of the said Act is amended by adding the word “or” at the end of paragraph (d) and by adding the following after paragraph (d):

Privacy Act

46. Subsection 8(6) of the Privacy Act is amended by striking out the word “or” at the end of paragraph (c), by adding the word “or” at the end of paragraph (d) and by adding the following paragraph: