Marginal note:First Nations Land Management Act and Indian Oil and Gas Act

55. The First Nations Land Management Act and the Indian Oil and Gas Act do not apply in relation to oil and gas exploration or exploitation in a first nation’s managed area as of the first nation’s transfer date.

Marginal note:Environmental assessment laws

56. In the event of a conflict between a first nation’s oil and gas laws and any federal law providing for the environmental assessments of projects in their application to a project, the federal law prevails to the extent of the conflict.

Marginal note:Other environmental laws

57. In the event of a conflict between a first nation’s oil and gas laws and any federal law relating to the protection of the environment, the federal law prevails to the extent of the conflict.

Marginal note:Labour laws

58. This Act does not affect the application of any federal law in relation to labour relations, working conditions or occupational health and safety.

Marginal note:Inconsistencies among first nation laws

59. In the event of a conflict between oil and gas laws and the provisions of a law made by a first nation or its council under any other Act, the oil and gas laws prevail to the extent of the conflict.

Moneys

Marginal note:Indian Act

60. Sections 61 to 69 of the Indian Act do not apply in respect of moneys paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to a first nation under section 30 or 31 of this Act.

Marginal note:Financial Administration Act

61. Moneys paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to a first nation under section 30 or 31 are not public moneys within the meaning of the Financial Administration Act.

REGULATIONS

Marginal note:Regulations

62. The Governor in Council may make regulations

• (a) governing the conduct of a vote under section 17 or 18, including

  • (i) the content of the question to be put to voters,

  • (ii) the information that must be provided to first nation members and other persons, respectively, before a vote and the periods during which it must be provided, and

  • (iii) the extent to which legal and financial advice must be provided or made available to first nation members before a vote;

• (b) for the purposes of subsections 26(2) and 34(3),

  • (i) establishing a register for the registration of contracts,

  • (ii) providing for the transfer of existing contracts to that register from the Reserve Land Register maintained under section 21 of the Indian Act or, in the case of a first nation to which the First Nations Land Management Act applies, from the First Nations Land Register maintained under section 25 of that Act, and

  • (iii) respecting the effects of registering contracts in the register, including the priorities attached to registration;

• (c) setting the minimal requirements of oil and gas laws made in relation to the protection of the environment, including by the incorporation by reference of provincial laws as amended from time to time;

• (d) setting the minimal requirements of oil and gas laws made in relation to the conservation of oil and gas, including by the incorporation by reference of provincial laws as amended from time to time; and

• (e) in the absence of an agreement with the government of a province referred to in section 43, establishing bodies, or designating existing bodies, to administer oil and gas laws that incorporate laws of the province.

Marginal note:Environmental assessment laws

• 63. (1) The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister and the Minister of the Environment, make regulations respecting the content of oil and gas laws made in relation to environmental assessments, including

  • (a) the types or stages of environmental assessments, the circumstances in which each type or stage is to be conducted and the required elements of each type or stage;

  • (b) the appointment of persons or bodies that are to carry out each type or stage of assessment and the qualifications of persons appointed to those bodies;

  • (c) the factors to be considered in an assessment in determining whether a project should be recommended to proceed, to proceed with conditions or not to proceed or be referred to another stage of assessment;

  • (d) the powers and duties of decision-making authorities in relation to a project that has been assessed;

  • (e) the powers of persons or bodies referred to in paragraph (b) to compel witnesses to appear before them and give evidence, and to compel the production of documents;

  • (f) the participation of the public in each type or stage of assessment;

  • (g) access by the public to, and the confidentiality of, information that is submitted, collected or generated in an assessment;

  • (h) the immunity from liability of persons or bodies referred to in paragraph (b); and

  • (i) the kinds of exploration activities that are defined as projects for the purposes of assessments.

• Marginal note:Exemptions from assessment

  (2) The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister and the Minister of the Environment, make regulations authorizing a first nation in its oil and gas laws to exempt from environmental assessment any class of project that

  • (a) ought not to be assessed, in the opinion of the Governor in Council, for reasons of national security;

  • (b) relates to installations used for oil or gas exploration or exploitation and will, in the opinion of the Governor in Council, have insignificant environmental effects; or

  • (c) has a total cost that is less than an amount prescribed by those regulations and meets environmental conditions prescribed by those regulations.

• Marginal note:Comparable standards

  (3) The requirements of any regulations made under subsection (1) must be generally comparable with those applicable in similar circumstances under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

COMING INTO FORCE

Marginal note:Order in council

64. This Act comes into force on a day to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.