Bill C-38

2nd Session, 40th Parliament,

57-58 Elizabeth II, 2009

house of commons of canada

BILL C-38

An Act to amend the Canada National Parks Act to enlarge Nahanni National Park Reserve of Canada

Whereas the expansion of Nahanni National Park Reserve of Canada is an opportunity to conserve a wilderness area of Canadian and international significance;

Whereas the expansion of the Park Reserve will protect the waters flowing into the South Nahanni River, the ecology and wildlife resources of the area and its globally significant karst landscape;

Whereas the Park Reserve was among the first World Heritage Sites designated under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention and its expansion will contribute to the Convention’s objective of preserving outstanding examples of the world’s common heritage;

And whereas the Dehcho First Nations, having a treaty relationship with Canada, have worked collaboratively with the Parks Canada Agency to protect the greater Nahanni ecosystem, and support the expansion of the Park Reserve;

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 An Act Creating One of the World’s Largest National Park Reserves.

CANADA NATIONAL PARKS ACT

2. Subsection 15(2) of the Canada National Parks Act is replaced by the following:

(2) Public lands in a park in which a right or interest is held for any purpose under this Act remain part of the park and, if those lands cease to be used for that purpose, the right or interest reverts to the Crown.

3. Section 24 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (3):

(4) Every person who contravenes

(a) a condition of a land use permit or water licence issued under subsection 41.1(3) or (4), is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction

(i) in the case of a land use permit or type B water licence, to a fine not exceeding $15,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both, or

(ii) in the case of a type A water licence, to a fine not exceeding $100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both;

(b) an order or direction given by a superintendent, park warden or enforcement officer under subsection 41.1(3) or (4), is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction

(i) in the case of an order in relation to a land use permit, to a fine not exceeding $15,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both, or

(ii) in the case of a direction in relation to a water licence, to a fine not exceeding $100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both.

4. Subsection 25(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

25. (1) Except as permitted by this Act or the regulations, no person shall traffic in any wild mammal, amphibian, reptile, bird, fish or invertebrate, any part or an egg or embryo thereof, any plant or part of a plant, or any other naturally occurring object or product of natural phenomena, taken in or from a park.

5. (1) Subsection 26(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

26. (1) Except as permitted by this Act or the regulations, no person shall hunt, traffic in or possess, in a park, any wildlife of a species named in Part 1 of Schedule 3, or traffic in or possess such wildlife taken from a park.

(2) Subsection 26(3) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(3) Except as permitted by this Act or the regulations, no person shall hunt, traffic in or possess, in a park, any wildlife of a species named in Part 2 of Schedule 3, or traffic in or possess such wildlife taken from a park.

6. Section 39 of the Act is replaced by the following:

39. Subject to sections 40 to 41.1, this Act applies to a park reserve as if it were a park.

7. (1) The Act is amended by adding the following after section 41:

41.1 (1) In this section, “expansion area” means the lands described in Parts II and III of the description of Nahanni National Park Reserve of Canada in Schedule 2.

(2) The Minister may enter into leases or licences of occupation of, and easements over, public lands situated in the expansion area for the purposes of

(a) a mining access road leading to the Prairie Creek Area, as that Area is described in Part II of the description of Nahanni National Park Reserve of Canada in Schedule 2, including the sites of storage and other facilities connected with that road; or

(b) a mining access road following the existing route from Tungsten to Howard’s Pass and any alteration to or deviation from that route, including the sites of storage and other facilities connected with that road.

(3) The Minister may issue, amend, renew, suspend, cancel, and approve the assignment of, permits and authorizations for the use of lands in the expansion area for the purposes of the mining access roads referred to in subsection (2) and, in relation to such permits and authorizations, subsection 31(3) and sections 59, 62, 71 and 85 to 87 of the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act and the regulations made under that Act — other than any regulations respecting time limits and public hearings — apply, with any adaptations that may be necessary, as if the references in those provisions to the federal Minister or a board were references to the Minister responsible for the Parks Canada Agency and the references in those provisions to an inspector were references to the superintendent of the Park Reserve, a park warden or an enforcement officer designated for the purposes of this subsection.

(4) The Minister may issue, amend, renew, suspend, cancel, and approve the assignment of, licences for the use of waters in the expansion area for the purposes of the mining access roads referred to in subsection (2) and, in relation to such licences, subsections 14(1), (4), (5) and (7) and sections 15, 16 to 19, 32 and 36, subsections 37(1), (3) and (4) and sections 38, 39, 43 and 44 of the Northwest Territories Waters Act and the regulations made under that Act apply, with any adaptations that may be necessary, as if the references in those provisions to the Minister or the Board were references to the Minister responsible for the Parks Canada Agency and the references in those provisions to an inspector were references to the superintendent of the Park Reserve, a park warden or an enforcement officer designated for the purposes of this subsection.

(5) Outfitter licences issued under the Wildlife Act, R.S.N.W.T. 1988, c. W-4 that are in effect on the coming into force of this section in respect of public lands located in the expansion area, continue in effect according to their terms and may be renewed for periods ending not later than 10 years after the day on which this section comes into force, but no new outfitter licences may be issued in respect of those lands.

(6) In subsections (7) and (8), “guide” means a person who holds a guide licence issued in accordance with the Wildlife Act, R.S.N.W.T. 1988, c. W-4 and who is, or is employed by, the holder of an outfitter licence referred to in subsection (5).

(7) A guide or a person accompanied by a guide may hunt, within the meaning of section 26, and may possess, within the meaning of section 26, or transport any wild animal or any part of one in the expansion area, in accordance with the Wildlife Act, R.S.N.W.T. 1988, c. W-4 and the applicable outfitter licence.

(8) The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the activities of guides, persons accompanied by guides and holders of outfitter licences in the expansion area, including regulations

(a) respecting the hunting of wild animals, including with the use of firearms;

(b) authorizing the removal and disposal of any equipment or wild animals left by any person in contravention of the regulations or the Wildlife Act, R.S.N.W.T. 1988, c. W-4, and providing for the recovery of expenses incurred in their removal or disposal; and

(c) authorizing the superintendent

(i) to close areas to hunting for the purposes of management of the Park Reserve, public safety or the conservation of natural resources,

(ii) to establish limits on the wild animals that may be harvested in any period, or to vary any such limits established by the regulations or under the Wildlife Act, R.S.N.W.T. 1988, c. W-4, for purposes of conservation,

(iii) to prohibit or restrict the use of equipment in the expansion area for the purpose of protecting natural resources, and

(iv) to suspend or revoke an outfitter licence or a guide licence, to the extent that it applies in the expansion area, for failure to comply with this Act or the regulations, the Wildlife Act, R.S.N.W.T. 1988, c. W-4 or the regulations under that Act, or the terms and conditions of the licence.

(9) For the purposes of subsections 5(1) and 6(2), leases, licences of occupation, easements, land use permits and authorizations and water licences relating to public lands in the expansion area are deemed not to encumber or affect title to those lands, but if those lands become part of a park they continue in effect according to their terms and conditions.

(10) After any public lands within the expansion area become a park, this section continues to apply in respect of those lands with any adaptations that may be necessary.

(2) Subsections 41.1(5) to (8) of the Act are repealed.

8. Schedule 2 to the Act is amended by replacing “(Sections 2, 6, 7 and 41)” after the heading “SCHEDULE 2” with “(Sections 2, 6, 7, 41 and 41.1)”.

9. The description of Nahanni National Park Reserve of Canada in Schedule 2 to the Act is replaced by the description set out in the schedule to this Act.

TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS

10. Leases of public lands situated in the expansion area — referred to in subsection 41.1(1) of Canada National Parks Act, as enacted by subsection 7(1) — that are in effect on the day on which this Act receives royal assent continue in effect in accordance with their terms and conditions as if they had been issued under that Act, and those terms and conditions prevail in the event of a conflict or inconsistency with that Act.

11. On the day on which this Act receives royal assent, the Minister responsible for the Parks Canada Agency shall issue permits, authorizations and licences in accordance with section 41.1 of the Canada National Parks Act, as enacted by subsection 7(1), in replacement of the existing land use permits and authorizations issued under the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act and the existing water licences issued under the Northwest Territories Waters Act and containing the same terms and conditions — with any adaptations that are necessary — to the extent that they apply in respect of the mining access roads situated in the expansion area referred to in that section including the sites of storage and other facilities connected with those roads.

COORDINATING AMENDMENTS

12. (1) Subsections (2) to (7) apply if Bill C-16, introduced in the 2nd session of the 40th Parliament and entitled the Environmental Enforcement Act (the “other Act”), receives royal assent.

(2) If section 3 of this Act comes into force before section 33 of the other Act, then, on the day on which that section 33 comes into force,

(a) subsection 24(4) of the Canada National Parks Act is repealed; and

(b) the portion of subsection 24(2) of the Canada National Parks Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

(2) Every person who contravenes any provision of the regulations, other than a provision designated by regulations made under paragraph 16(1)(y), any condition of a permit, licence or other authorizing instrument issued under the regulations or under subsection 41.1(3) and (4), or any order or direction given by a superintendent, park warden or enforcement officer under subsection 41.1(3) or (4), is guilty of an offence and liable

(3) If section 33 of the other Act comes into force before section 3 of this Act, then

(a) that section 3 is deemed never to have come into force and is repealed; and

(b) the portion of subsection 24(2) of the Canada National Parks Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

(2) Every person who contravenes any provision of the regulations, other than a provision designated by regulations made under paragraph 16(1)(y), any condition of a permit, licence or other authorizing instrument issued under the regulations or under subsection 41.1(3) and (4), or any order or direction given by a superintendent, park warden or enforcement officer under subsection 41.1(3) or (4), is guilty of an offence and liable

(4) If section 3 of this Act comes into force on the same day as section 33 of the other Act, then that section 33 is deemed to have come into force before that section 3 and subsection (3) applies as a consequence.

(5) On the first day on which both section 4 of this Act and section 34 of the other Act are in force, subsection 25(1) of the Canada National Parks Act is replaced by the following:

25. (1) Except as permitted by this Act or the regulations, no person shall traffic in any wild animal, whether living or dead, at any developmental stage, in any part of or any derivative of, or in any egg or embryo of, a wild animal — or in any plant or part of a plant or in any other naturally occurring object or product of natural phenomena — taken in or from a park.

(6) On the first day on which both subsection 5(1) of this Act and section 35 of the other Act are in force, subsection 26(1) of the Canada National Parks Act is replaced by the following:

26. (1) Except as permitted by this Act or the regulations, no person shall

(a) hunt, in a park, any wild animal of a species named in Part 1 of Schedule 3;

(b) traffic in or possess, in a park, any wild animal of a species named in Part 1 of Schedule 3, whether living or dead, at any developmental stage, or any egg or embryo, or any part or derivative, of any such animal; or

(c) traffic in or possess any wild animal of a species named in Part 1 of Schedule 3, whether living or dead, at any developmental stage, taken from a park, or any egg or embryo, or any part or derivative, of any such animal that was taken from a park.

(7) On the first day on which both subsection 5(2) of this Act and section 35 of the other Act are in force, subsection 26(3) of the Canada National Parks Act is replaced by the following:

(3) Except as permitted by this Act or the regulations, no person shall

(a) hunt, in a park, any wild animal of a species named in Part 2 of Schedule 3;

(b) traffic in or possess, in a park, any wild animal of a species named in Part 2 of Schedule 3, whether living or dead, at any developmental stage, or any egg or embryo, or any part or derivative, of any such animal; or

(c) traffic in or possess any wild animal of a species named in Part 2 of Schedule 3, whether living or dead, at any developmental stage, taken from a park, or any egg or embryo, or any part or derivative, of any such animal that was taken from a park.

COMING INTO FORCE

13. Subsection 7(2) comes into force on the day that is 10 years after the day on which this Act receives royal assent.