Government of Canada / Gouvernement du Canada
Symbol of the Government of Canada

Search

Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act (S.C. 1998, c. 25)

Act current to 2024-02-20 and last amended on 2019-08-28. Previous Versions

Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act

S.C. 1998, c. 25

Assented to 1998-06-18

An Act to provide for an integrated system of land and water management in the Mackenzie Valley, to establish certain boards for that purpose and to make consequential amendments to other Acts

Preamble

WHEREAS the Gwich’in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement and the Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement require the establishment of land use planning boards and land and water boards for the settlement areas referred to in those Agreements and the establishment of an environmental impact review board for the Mackenzie Valley, and provide as well for the establishment of a land and water board for an area extending beyond those settlement areas;

WHEREAS the Agreements require that those boards be established as institutions of public government within an integrated and coordinated system of land and water management in the Mackenzie Valley;

AND WHEREAS the intent of the Agreements as acknowledged by the parties is to establish those boards for the purpose of regulating all land and water uses, including deposits of waste, in the settlement areas for which they are established or in the Mackenzie Valley, as the case may be;

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

Marginal note:Short title

 This Act may be cited as the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

 The definitions in this section apply in this Act.

Déline Agreement

Déline Agreement means the Déline Final Self-Government Agreement among the Déline First Nation Band, the Déline Land Corporation, the Government of Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories, signed on February 18, 2015, including any amendments made to it, that is approved, given effect and declared valid by the Déline Final Self-Government Agreement Act. (accord de Deline)

Déline Got’ine Government

Déline Got’ine Government means the government established in accordance with chapter 3 of the Déline Agreement. (gouvernement Gotine de Deline)

Déline lands

Déline lands means the lands whose title is vested in the Déline Got’ine Government in accordance with 21.2.1 of the Déline Agreement. (terres de Deline)

Déline law

Déline law has the meaning assigned by the definition DGG Law in chapter 1 of the Déline Agreement. (loi de Deline)

deposit of waste

deposit of waste means a deposit of waste in any waters in the Mackenzie Valley or in any other place under conditions in which the waste, or any other waste that results from the deposit of that waste, may enter any waters in the Mackenzie Valley. (dépôt de déchets)

environment

environment means the components of the Earth and includes

  • (a) land, water and air, including all layers of the atmosphere;

  • (b) all organic and inorganic matter and living organisms; and

  • (c) the interacting natural systems that include components referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b). (environnement)

federal Minister

federal Minister means the Minister of Northern Affairs. (ministre fédéral)

first nation

first nation means the Gwich’in First Nation, the Sahtu First Nation or bodies representing other Dene or Metis of the North Slave, South Slave or Deh Cho region of the Mackenzie Valley, but does not include the Tlicho First Nation or the Tlicho Government. (première nation)

Gwich’in Agreement

Gwich’in Agreement means the Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement between Her Majesty the Queen in right of Canada and the Gwich’in as represented by the Gwich’in Tribal Council, signed on April 22, 1992 and approved, given effect and declared valid by the Gwich’in Land Claim Settlement Act, as that Agreement is amended from time to time in accordance with its provisions. (accord gwich’in)

Gwich’in First Nation

Gwich’in First Nation means the Gwich’in as represented by the Gwich’in Tribal Council referred to in the Gwich’in Agreement or by any successor to it. (première nation des Gwich’in)

harvesting

harvesting, in relation to wildlife, means hunting, trapping or fishing activities carried on in conformity with a land claim agreement or, in respect of persons and places not subject to a land claim agreement, carried on pursuant to aboriginal or treaty rights. (exploitation)

heritage resources

heritage resources means archaeological or historic sites, burial sites, artifacts and other objects of historical, cultural or religious significance, and historical or cultural records. (ressources patrimoniales)

land claim agreement

land claim agreement means the Gwich’in Agreement, the Sahtu Agreement or the Tlicho Agreement. (accord de revendication)

local government

local government means any local government established under the laws of the Northwest Territories, including a city, town, village, hamlet, charter community, settlement or government of a Tlicho community, whether incorporated or not, and includes the territorial government in the case where it is acting in the place of that local government in accordance with those laws. It also includes the Déline Got’ine Government in the case where it is exercising the jurisdiction and authority set out in 9.1 of the Déline Agreement. (administration locale)

Mackenzie Valley

Mackenzie Valley means that part of the Northwest Territories bounded on the south by the 60th parallel of latitude, on the west by Yukon, on the north by the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, as defined in the Agreement given effect by the Western Arctic (Inuvialuit) Claims Settlement Act , and on the east by the Nunavut Settlement Area, as defined in the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act , but does not include Wood Buffalo National Park of Canada. (vallée du Mackenzie)

Monfwi Gogha De Niitlee

Monfwi Gogha De Niitlee means the area described in part 1 of the appendix to chapter 1 of the Tlicho Agreement. (Monfwi gogha de niitlee)

Sahtu Agreement

Sahtu Agreement means the Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement between Her Majesty the Queen in right of Canada and the Sahtu Dene and Metis as represented by the Sahtu Tribal Council, signed on September 6, 1993 and approved, given effect and declared valid by the Sahtu Dene and Metis Land Claim Settlement Act, as that Agreement is amended from time to time in accordance with its provisions. (accord du Sahtu)

Sahtu First Nation

Sahtu First Nation means the Sahtu Dene and Metis as represented by The Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated, a corporation without share capital under Part II of the Canada Corporations Act, R.S.C. 1970, c. C-32, being the successor, for the purposes of this Act, to the Sahtu Tribal Council referred to in the Sahtu Agreement, or by any successor to that corporation. It also includes the Déline Got’ine Government in the case where The Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated or its successor has made a delegation or assignment to that government of any powers and functions conferred under this Act. (première nation du Sahtu)

settlement area

settlement area means the area described in appendix A to the Gwich’in Agreement or in appendix A to the Sahtu Agreement. (région désignée)

settlement lands

settlement lands means lands referred to as settlement lands in the Gwich’in Agreement or the Sahtu Agreement. (terres désignées)

territorial government

territorial government means the government of the Northwest Territories. (gouvernement territorial)

territorial law

territorial law means any law of the Legislature of the Northwest Territories. (règle de droit territoriale)

territorial Minister

territorial Minister, in relation to any provision of this Act, means the minister of the territorial government designated by instrument of the Executive Council of the Northwest Territories for the purposes of that provision. (ministre territorial)

Tlicho Agreement

Tlicho Agreement means the Land Claims and Self-Government Agreement among the Tlicho, the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Government of Canada, signed on August 25, 2003 and approved, given effect and declared valid by the Tlicho Land Claims and Self-Government Act, as that Agreement is amended from time to time in accordance with its provisions. (accord tlicho)

Tlicho citizen

Tlicho citizen means a person whose name is on the Register as defined in chapter 1 of the Tlicho Agreement. (citoyen tlicho)

Tlicho community

Tlicho community means a community for which a community government is established in accordance with chapter 8 of the Tlicho Agreement. (collectivité tlicho)

Tlicho First Nation

Tlicho First Nation means the aboriginal people of Canada to whom section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 applies, consisting of all Tlicho citizens. (première nation tlicho)

Tlicho Government

Tlicho Government means the government of the Tlicho First Nation established in accord­ance with chapter 7 of the Tlicho Agreement. (gouvernement tlicho)

Tlicho lands

Tlicho lands means Tlicho lands as defined in chapter 1 of the Tlicho Agreement. (terres tlichos)

Tlicho law

Tlicho law means a law enacted by the Tlicho Government. (loi tlicho)

Wekeezhii

Wekeezhii means the area described in part 2 of the appendix to chapter 1 of the Tlicho Agreement. (Wekeezhii)

  • 1998, c. 25, s. 2
  • 2000, c. 32, s. 50
  • 2002, c. 7, s. 205(E)
  • 2005, c. 1, s. 15
  • 2014, c. 2, s. 113
  • 2015, c. 24, s. 22
  • 2019, c. 29, s. 374

Marginal note:Consultation

 Wherever in this Act reference is made, in relation to any matter, to a power or duty to consult, that power or duty shall be exercised

  • (a) by providing, to the party to be consulted,

    • (i) notice of the matter in sufficient form and detail to allow the party to prepare its views on the matter,

    • (ii) a reasonable period for the party to prepare those views, and

    • (iii) an opportunity to present those views to the party having the power or duty to consult; and

  • (b) by considering, fully and impartially, any views so presented.

Marginal note:Delegation

  •  (1) The federal Minister may delegate, in writing, any of his or her powers, duties or functions under this Act — either generally or as otherwise provided in the instrument of delegation — to the minister of the Northwest Territories designated by the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories for the purposes of this section.

  • Marginal note:Included functions

    (2) The functions of the federal Minister referred to in subsection (1) include the power to delegate duties pursuant to section 122.

  • Marginal note:Delegation to aboriginal organizations

    (3) A first nation may, in conformity with its land claim agreement, delegate any of the functions of the first nation under this Act to an aboriginal organization designated by it.

  • Marginal note:Delegation by Tlicho Government

    (4) The Tlicho Government may, in conformity with the Tlicho Agreement, delegate any of its functions under this Act to

    • (a) a body or office established by a Tlicho law;

    • (b) any department, agency or office of the federal or the territorial government;

    • (c) a board or other public body established by or under an Act of Parliament or by a territorial law; or

    • (d) a local government.

  • Marginal note:Delegation by Déline Got’ine Government

    (5) The Déline Got’ine Government may, in conformity with the Déline Agreement, delegate any of its functions under this Act to

    • (a) a body or office established by a Déline law;

    • (b) a department, agency or office of the federal or the territorial government;

    • (c) a board or other public body established by or under an Act of Parliament or by a territorial law; or

    • (d) any other entity.

  • 1998, c. 25, s. 4
  • 2005, c. 1, s. 16
  • 2014, c. 2, s. 114
  • 2015, c. 24, s. 23

Marginal note:Conflict

  •  (1) If there is any inconsistency or conflict between this Act and a land claim agreement, the Déline Agreement, an Act giving effect to any of those agreements or the Indian Act, then the land claim agreement, the Déline Agreement, the Act or the Indian Act prevails over this Act to the extent of the inconsistency or conflict.

  • Marginal note:Aboriginal rights

    (2) For greater certainty, nothing in this Act shall be construed so as to abrogate or derogate from the protection provided for existing aboriginal or treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada by the recognition and affirmation of those rights in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

  • 1998, c. 25, s. 5
  • 2015, c. 24, s. 24

Marginal note:Agreement between Tlicho Government and another aboriginal people

 The rights of the Tlicho First Nation, Tlicho citizens and the Tlicho Government under this Act are subject to the provisions of any agreement entered into between the Tlicho Government and an aboriginal people, other than the Tlicho First Nation, under 2.7.3 of chapter 2 of the Tlicho Agreement.

  • 2005, c. 1, s. 17

Marginal note:Time limits

  •  (1) The failure of any of the following to exercise a power or perform a duty or function within a period or time limit fixed or prescribed under this Act does not terminate their authority to do so nor does it invalidate any document prepared or submitted or any decision or action taken in the exercise of such a power or the performance of such duty or function:

    • (a) the federal Minister;

    • (b) the Gwich’in Land Use Planning Board;

    • (c) the Sahtu Land Use Planning Board;

    • (d) the Gwich’in Land and Water Board;

    • (e) the Sahtu Land and Water Board;

    • (f) the Wekeezhii Land and Water Board;

    • (g) the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board;

    • (h) a responsible minister, as defined in section 111;

    • (i) the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board or one of its panels;

    • (j) a joint panel established under subsection 140(2) or paragraph 141(2)(b) or (3)(a) or a review panel referred to in subsection 40(2) of the Impact Assessment Act; and

    • (k) a designated regulatory agency, as defined in section 111.

  • Marginal note:Exception

    (2) Subsection (1) does not apply with respect to

    • (a) the periods fixed by regulations referred to in subsections 138.1(2), (3) and (4) and 141(4); and

    • (b) any other period or time limit fixed by regulations that is exempted from the application of subsection (1) by regulation.

  • Marginal note:Regulations

    (3) The Governor in Council may, by regulation, exempt a period or time limit set out in the regulations, other than those referred to in paragraph 2(a), from the application of subsection (1).

 

Date modified: