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Northwest Territories Devolution Act (S.C. 2014, c. 2)

Assented to 2014-03-25

 Subsection 142.25(5) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Notice

    (5) An inspector shall, if it is reasonable to do so, give the Gwich’in or Sahtu First Nation prior notice of entry by the inspector on its first nation lands.

  •  (1) Paragraph 143(1)(d) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    • (d) prescribing the form of the register to be maintained by the Review Board under section 142.1 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;

  • (2) Subsection 143(1) of the Act is amended by striking out “and” at the end of paragraph (f) and by adding the following after paragraph (g):

    • (h) respecting any consultation with a first nation, the Tlicho First Nation, the Tlicho Government or an aboriginal people who use an area outside the Mackenzie Valley that may occur under this Part, including the manner in which it is to be conducted, and providing for the delegation of certain procedural aspects of such consultation; and

    • (i) respecting the recovery of amounts and costs for the purposes of section 142.01, including prescribing anything that is to be prescribed by that section and exempting any class of person or body that proposes to carry out the development from the application of that section.

  • Marginal note:2005, c. 1, s. 90(3)

    (3) Subsection 143(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    • Marginal note:Consultation with Review Board

      (2) Regulations may only be made or amended under paragraph (1)(a), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h) or (i) or amended under paragraph (1)(b) or (c), following consultation by the federal Minister with the Review Board.

    • Marginal note:Consultation — Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board

      (2.1) In addition to the consultation referred to in subsection (2), the federal Minister shall consult the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board before making or amending any regulations under paragraph (1)(h) that relate to a preliminary screening by that Board.

  • (4) Subsection 143(3) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    • Marginal note:Exemptions

      (3) No development is to be exempted for a reason set out in paragraph 124(1)(b) if it is a designated project or belongs to a class of designated projects, within the meaning of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, by virtue of regulations made under paragraph 84(a) of that Act.

  • (5) Section 143 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (3):

    • Marginal note:Externally produced documents

      (4) A regulation made under this Part may incorporate by reference documents that are produced by a person other than the federal Minister or a body.

    • Marginal note:Reproduced or translated material

      (5) A regulation made under this Part may incorporate by reference documents that the federal Minister reproduces or translates from documents produced by a body or person other than the federal Minister

      • (a) with any adaptations of form and reference that will facilitate their incorporation into the regulation; or

      • (b) in a form that sets out only the parts of them that apply for the purposes of the regulation.

    • Marginal note:Jointly produced documents

      (6) A regulation made under this Part may incorporate by reference documents that the federal Minister produces jointly with another government for the purpose of harmonizing the regulation with other laws.

    • Marginal note:Internally produced standards

      (7) A regulation made under this Part may incorporate by reference technical or explanatory documents that the federal Minister produces, including

      • (a) specifications, classifications, illustrations, graphs or other information of a technical nature; and

      • (b) test methods, procedures, operational standards, safety standards or performance standards of a technical nature.

    • Marginal note:Incorporation as amended from time to time

      (8) Documents may be incorporated by reference as amended from time to time.

    • Marginal note:For greater certainty

      (9) Subsections (4) to (8) are for greater certainty and do not limit any authority to make regulations incorporating material by reference that exists apart from those subsections.

    • Marginal note:Accessibility

      (10) The federal Minister shall ensure that any document that is incorporated by reference in the regulation is accessible.

    • Marginal note:Defence

      (11) A person is not liable to be found guilty of an offence or subjected to an administrative sanction for any contravention in respect of which a document that is incorporated by reference in the regulation is relevant unless, at the time of the alleged contravention, the document was accessible as required by subsection (10) or it was otherwise accessible to the person.

    • Marginal note:No registration or publication

      (12) For greater certainty, a document that is incorporated by reference in the regulation is not required to be transmitted for registration or published in the Canada Gazette by reason only that it is incorporated by reference.

Marginal note:2005, c. 1, s. 91

 Subsection 144(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Marginal note:Schedule
  • 144. (1) The Governor in Council may, by regulations made following consultation by the federal Minister with the territorial Minister, the Review Board, the first nations and the Tlicho Government, amend the schedule by adding, or by deleting, the name of any agency, other than the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, that exercises regulatory powers under territorial or federal laws and that is not subject to specific control or direction by a minister of the federal or territorial government or the Governor in Council.

 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 144:

Prohibitions, Offences and Punishment

Marginal note:Obstruction

144.01 It is prohibited to knowingly obstruct or hinder an inspector who is exercising their powers or performing their duties and functions under this Part.

Marginal note:False statements or information

144.02 It is prohibited to knowingly make a false or misleading statement or knowingly provide false or misleading information in connection with any matter under this Part to any person who is exercising their powers or performing their duties and functions under this Part.

Marginal note:Offence — certificates
  • 144.03 (1) Every person or body that proposes to carry out a development and that contravenes section 117.1 and every person who contravenes subsection 142.23(3) or an order made under subsection 142.29(1) is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction

    • (a) for a first offence, to a fine not exceeding $250,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both; and

    • (b) for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding $500,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both.

  • Marginal note:Obstruction or false statements or information

    (2) Every person who contravenes section 144.01 or 144.02 is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $250,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both.

  • Marginal note:Continuing offences

    (3) An offence under subsection (1) that is committed or continued on more than one day constitutes a separate offence for each day on which it is committed or continued.

  • Marginal note:Due diligence defence

    (4) No one is to be convicted of an offence under subsection (1) if they establish that they exercised due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence.

Marginal note:Limitation period or prescription

144.04 No proceedings in respect of an offence under this Part are to be instituted more than five years after the day on which the federal Minister becomes aware of the acts or omissions that constitute the alleged offence.

Marginal note:Admissibility of evidence
  • 144.05 (1) In proceedings for an offence under this Part, a certificate, report or other document of the federal Minister, the Review Board, a regulatory authority, a designated regulatory agency or an inspector that is purported to have been signed by that person, board or authority is admissible in evidence without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed it and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is proof of the matters asserted in it.

  • Marginal note:Copies and extracts

    (2) In proceedings for an offence under this Part, a copy of or an extract from any document that is made by the federal Minister, the Review Board, a regulatory authority, a designated regulatory agency or an inspector that appears to have been certified under the signature of that person, board or authority as a true copy or extract is admissible in evidence without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed it and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, has the same probative force as the original would have if it were proved in the ordinary way.

  • Marginal note:Presumed date of issue

    (3) A document referred to in this section is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, presumed to have been issued on the date that it bears.

  • Marginal note:Notice

    (4) No document referred to in this section is to be received in evidence unless the party intending to produce it has provided reasonable notice of that intention to the party against whom it is intended to be produced together with a copy of the document.

 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 144:

PART 5.1REGIONAL STUDIES

Marginal note:Establishment of committee
  • 144.1 (1) The federal Minister may establish a committee to conduct a study of the effects of existing or future physical activities carried out in a region of the Mackenzie Valley.

  • Marginal note:Mandate and appointment of members

    (2) If the federal Minister establishes a committee, he or she shall establish its terms of reference and appoint as a member of the committee one or more persons.

Marginal note:Advice — first nations

144.2 Before establishing the committee’s terms of reference, the federal Minister shall seek and consider the advice of the territorial government, any affected first nation and, if the study affects the Tlicho First Nation, the Tlicho Government.

Marginal note:Participation in study

144.3 The federal Minister, if he or she considers it appropriate, may enter into an agreement or arrangement with any person or body with relevant knowledge or expertise with respect to their participation in the committee’s study.

Marginal note:Joint establishment of committee

144.4 If the federal Minister is of the opinion that it is appropriate to conduct a study of the effects of existing or future physical activities carried out in a region of the Mackenzie Valley and in a region contiguous to it, the federal Minister may enter into an agreement or arrangement with an authority responsible for the examination of environmental effects in that region respecting the joint establishment of a committee to conduct the study and the manner in which the study is to be conducted.

Marginal note:Elements to consider

144.5 In conducting its study, the committee shall consider any traditional knowledge and scientific information that is made available to it.

Marginal note:Information

144.6 Subject to any other federal or territorial law, a committee may obtain, from any board established or continued by this Act or from any department or agency of the federal or territorial government, any information in the possession of the board, department or agency that is required for it to conduct its study.

Marginal note:Report to federal Minister

144.7 On completion of its study, the committee established under subsection 144.1(1) or under an agreement or arrangement entered into under section 144.4 shall provide a report to the federal Minister, who shall make it available to the public.

Marginal note:Consideration of report

144.8 The Gwich’in Land Use Planning Board, the Sahtu Land Use Planning Board, the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board, its review panels, a review panel, or a joint panel established jointly by the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board and any other person or body, and any body conducting a preliminary screening of a proposal for a development under section 124 shall consider any report referred to in section 144.7.

Marginal note:Conflict of interest
  • 144.9 (1) A member of a committee shall not participate in a study if that participation would place the member in a material conflict of interest.

  • Marginal note:Status or entitlements under agreement

    (2) A member of a committee is not placed in a material conflict of interest merely because of any status or entitlement conferred on the member under the Gwich’in Agreement, the Sahtu Agreement, the Tlicho Agreement or any other agreement between a first nation and Her Majesty in right of Canada for the settlement of a land claim.

 

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