Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Northwest Territories Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

2 In this Act,

Commissioner

commissaire

Commissioner means the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories; (commissaire)

Commissioner in Council

commissaire en conseil

Commissioner in Council means the Commissioner acting by and with the advice and consent of the Council; (commissaire en conseil)

Council

Conseil

Council means the Council of the Northwest Territories; (Conseil)

Court

Cour

Court means the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories; (Cour)

intoxicant

boisson alcoolisée

intoxicant includes alcohol, alcoholic, spirituous, vinous, fermented malt or other intoxicating liquor or combination of liquors and mixed liquor a part of which is spirituous, vinous, fermented or otherwise intoxicating and all drinks, drinkable liquids, preparations or mixtures capable of human consumption that are intoxicating; (boisson alcoolisée)

Minister

ministre

Minister means the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development; (ministre)

ordinance

ordonnance

ordinance includes an ordinance of the Territories passed before, on or after April 1, 1955; (ordonnance)

public lands

terres domaniales

public lands means any land, and any interest in any land, in the Territories that belongs to Her Majesty in right of Canada or of which the Government of Canada has power to dispose; (terres domaniales)

Territories

territoires

Territories means the Northwest Territories, which comprise all that part of Canada north of the sixtieth parallel of north latitude and west of the boundary described in Schedule I to the Nunavut Act that is not within the Yukon Territory. (territoires)

PART IGovernment

Commissioner

Marginal note:Appointment

3 The Governor in Council may appoint for the Territories a chief executive officer called the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories.

Marginal note:Deputy Commissioner

• 4 (1) The Governor in Council may appoint a Deputy Commissioner of the Territories.

• Marginal note:Powers of Deputy Commissioner

  (2) If the Commissioner is absent, ill or unable to act or the office of Commissioner is vacant, the Deputy Commissioner has and may exercise and perform all the powers and functions of the Commissioner.

Marginal note:Administration of government

5 The Commissioner shall administer the government of the Territories under instructions from time to time given by the Governor in Council or the Minister.

Marginal note:Executive powers

6 The executive powers that were, immediately before September 1, 1905, vested by any laws of Canada in the Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories or in the Lieutenant Governor of the Northwest Territories in Council shall be exercised by the Commissioner so far as they are applicable to and capable of being exercised in relation to the government of the Territories as it is constituted at the time of the exercise of those powers.

Marginal note:Oaths of office

7 The Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner shall, before assuming the duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe such oaths of office and allegiance in such manner as the Governor in Council may prescribe.

Seat of Government

Marginal note:Location

8 The seat of government of the Territories shall be at such place as may be designated by the Governor in Council.

Council

Marginal note:Council established

• 9 (1) There is hereby established a Council of the Northwest Territories the members of which shall be elected to represent such electoral districts in the Territories as are named and described by the Commissioner in Council.

• Marginal note:Size of Council

  (2) The Council consists of fourteen members, unless the Commissioner in Council, by ordinance, fixes another number of members, not less than fourteen and not more than twenty-five.

• Marginal note:Duration of Council

  (3) Every Council shall continue for four years from the date of the return of the writs for the general election and no longer, but the Governor in Council may at any time, after consultation with the Council where the Governor in Council deems consultation to be practicable or, otherwise, after consultation with each of the members of the Council with whom consultation can then be effected, dissolve the Council and cause a new Council to be elected.

• Marginal note:Writs

  (4) Writs for the election of members of the Council shall be issued on the instructions of the Commissioner.

Marginal note:Oaths of office

10 Each member of the Council shall, before assuming the duties of his office, take and subscribe before the Commissioner such oaths of office and allegiance as the Governor in Council may prescribe.

Marginal note:Sessions of Council

11 The Commissioner shall convene at least two sessions of the Council in every calendar year so that twelve months shall not intervene between the last sitting of the Council in one session and its first sitting in the next session.

Marginal note:Speaker

• 12 (1) The Council shall elect one of its members to be Speaker.

• Marginal note:Speaker to preside

  (2) The Speaker shall preside over the Council when it is in session.

Marginal note:Quorum

13 A majority of the Council, including the Speaker, constitutes a quorum.

Marginal note:Qualifications of electors and candidates

14 The Commissioner in Council may prescribe

• (a) the qualifications of persons as electors and the qualifications of electors to vote at an election of members of the Council;

• (b) the qualifications of persons as candidates for election as members of the Council; and

• (c) the reasons for which a member of the Council may be or become disqualified from being or sitting as a member of the Council.

Marginal note:Sessional indemnity and expenses

• 15 (1) Subject to subsection (3), each member of the Council shall be paid out of the Northwest Territories Consolidated Revenue Fund such annual indemnity and such travel and living expenses for each session of the Council as the Commissioner in Council may prescribe.

• Marginal note:Indemnities and expenses of committee members

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), each member of any committee of the Council shall be paid out of the Northwest Territories Consolidated Revenue Fund, in addition to his annual indemnity, such indemnity and such travel and living expenses as the Commissioner in Council may prescribe.

• Marginal note:Payment of indemnities

  (3) The Commissioner in Council may prescribe the terms and conditions on which the indemnities and travel and living expenses prescribed pursuant to subsections (1) and (2) shall be paid to the members of the Council or any committee thereof.

• Marginal note:Part of indemnity not taxable

  (4) The first one thousand dollars of the indemnity paid to a member of the Council under subsection (1) in any year is not income for the purposes of the Income Tax Act.

Legislative Powers of Commissioner in Council

Marginal note:Legislative powers

16 The Commissioner in Council may, subject to this Act and any other Act of Parliament, make ordinances for the government of the Territories in relation to the following classes of subjects:

• (a) direct taxation within the Territories in order to raise a revenue for territorial, municipal or local purposes;

• (b) the establishment and tenure of territorial offices and the appointment and payment of territorial officers;

• (c) municipal institutions in the Territories, including local administrative districts, school districts, local improvement districts and irrigation districts;

• (d) election of members of the Council and controverted elections;

• (e) the licensing of any business, trade, calling, industry, employment or occupation in order to raise a revenue for territorial, municipal or local purposes;

• (f) the incorporation of companies with territorial objects, including tramways and street railway companies but excluding railway, steamship, air transport, canal, telegraph, telephone or irrigation companies;

• (g) the solemnization of marriage in the Territories;

• (h) property and civil rights in the Territories;

• (i) the administration of justice in the Territories, including the constitution, maintenance and organization of territorial courts, both of civil and of criminal jurisdiction, and including procedure in civil matters in those courts;

• (j) the establishment, maintenance and management of prisons, jails or lock-ups designated as such by the Commissioner in Council under paragraph 40(b), the duties and conduct of persons employed therein or otherwise charged with the custody of prisoners, and all matters pertaining to the maintenance, discipline or conduct of prisoners including their employment outside as well as within a prison, jail or lock-up;

• (k) the issuing of licences or permits to scientists or explorers to enter the Territories or any part thereof and the prescription of the conditions under which those licences or permits may be issued and used;

• (l) the levying of a tax on furs or any portions of fur-bearing animals to be shipped or taken from the Territories to any place outside the Territories;

• (m) the preservation of game in the Territories;

• (n) education in the Territories, subject to the conditions that any ordinance respecting education shall always provide that

  • (i) a majority of the ratepayers of any district or portion of the Territories, or of any less portion or subdivision thereof, by whatever name it is known, may establish such schools therein as they think fit, and make the necessary assessment and collection of rates therefor, and

  • (ii) the minority of the ratepayers in the area referred to in subparagraph (i), whether Protestant or Roman Catholic, may establish separate schools therein, in which case the ratepayers establishing Protestant or Roman Catholic separate schools are liable only to assessments of such rates as they impose on themselves in respect thereof;

• (n.1) the management and sale of the properties referred to in subsection 44(1) and of the timber and wood thereon;

• (o) the closing up, varying, opening, establishing, building, management or control of any roads, streets, lanes or trails on public lands;

• (p) intoxicants;

• (q) the establishment, maintenance and management of hospitals in and for the Territories;

• (r) agriculture;

• (s) the expenditure of money for territorial purposes;

• (t) generally, all matters of a merely local or private nature in the Territories;

• (u) the imposition of fines, penalties, imprisonment or other punishments in respect of the contravention of the provisions of any ordinance; and

• (v) such other matters as may be designated by the Governor in Council.

Marginal note:Restriction on powers

17 Nothing in section 16 shall be construed as giving the Commissioner in Council greater powers with respect to any class of subjects described therein than are given to legislatures of the provinces under sections 92 and 95 of the Constitution Act, 1867, with respect to similar subjects therein described.

Marginal note:Game ordinances in respect of Indians and Inuit

• 18 (1) Notwithstanding section 17 but subject to subsection (3), the Commissioner in Council may make ordinances for the government of the Territories in relation to the preservation of game in the Territories that are applicable to and in respect of Indians and Inuit.

• Marginal note:Presumption in respect of Indians and Inuit

  (2) Any ordinances made by the Commissioner in Council in relation to the preservation of game in the Territories, unless the contrary intention appears therein, are applicable to and in respect of Indians and Inuit.

• Marginal note:Hunting for food

  (3) Nothing in subsections (1) and (2) shall be construed as authorizing the Commissioner in Council to make ordinances restricting or prohibiting Indians or Inuit from hunting for food, on unoccupied Crown lands, game other than game declared by the Governor in Council to be game in danger of becoming extinct.

Marginal note:Agreements with Government of Canada

19 The Commissioner in Council may make ordinances authorizing the Commissioner to enter into an agreement with the Government of Canada under and for the purposes of any Act of Parliament that authorizes the Government of Canada to enter into agreements with the provinces, but no such agreement shall be entered into by the Commissioner without the approval of the Governor in Council.

Marginal note:Borrowing and lending

• 20 (1) The Commissioner in Council may make ordinances

  • (a) for the borrowing of money by the Commissioner on behalf of the Territories for territorial, municipal or local purposes;

  • (b) for the lending of money by the Commissioner to any person in the Territories; and

  • (c) for the investing by the Commissioner of surplus money standing to the credit of the Northwest Territories Consolidated Revenue Fund.

• Marginal note:Restriction

  (2) No money shall be borrowed under the authority of this section without the approval of the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Charge on Northwest Territories C.R.F.

  (3) The repayment of any money borrowed under the authority of this section, and the payment of interest thereon, is a charge on and payable out of the Northwest Territories Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Marginal note:Ordinances to be laid before Parliament

• 21 (1) A copy of every ordinance made by the Commissioner in Council shall be transmitted to the Governor in Council within thirty days after the passing thereof and shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament as soon as conveniently may be thereafter.

• Marginal note:Disallowance

  (2) Any ordinance or any provision of any ordinance may be disallowed by the Governor in Council at any time within one year after its passage.

Laws Applicable to the Territories

Marginal note:Laws of England

• 22 (1) Subject to this Act, the laws of England relating to civil and criminal matters, as such laws existed on July 15, 1870, are in force in the Territories, in so far as they are applicable to the Territories and in so far as they have not been or are not hereafter repealed, altered, varied, modified or affected in respect of the Territories by any Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom or of the Parliament of Canada or by any ordinance.

• Marginal note:Laws applicable to Inuit

  (2) All laws of general application in force in the Territories are, except where otherwise provided, applicable to and in respect of Inuit in the Territories.

Marginal note:Where no officer in Territories

• 23 (1) Where in any Act of Parliament or ordinance an officer is designated to perform any duty mentioned therein and there is no such officer in the Territories, the Commissioner may order by what other person or officer the duty shall be performed, and the performance of the duty by that other person or officer pursuant to the order is lawful and valid.

• Marginal note:Transmission of documents

  (2) Where in any Act of Parliament or ordinance a document or thing is to be transmitted to an officer, court, territorial division or place and there is then in the Territories no such officer, court, territorial division or place, the Commissioner may order to what officer, court, territorial division or place the transmission shall be made or may dispense with the transmission and the transmission or dispensation of transmission pursuant to the order is lawful and valid.

Northwest Territories Consolidated Revenue Fund

Marginal note:Northwest Territories C.R.F.

• 24 (1) All public moneys and revenue over which the Commissioner in Council has the power of appropriation shall form a fund to be known as the Northwest Territories Consolidated Revenue Fund.

• Marginal note:Establishment of bank accounts

  (2) The Commissioner shall establish, in the name of the government of the Territories, accounts with banks, or authorized foreign banks within the meaning of section 2 of the Bank Act that are not subject to the restrictions and requirements referred to in subsection 524(2) of that Act, in respect of their business in Canada, that the Commissioner designates for the deposit of public moneys and revenue.

Marginal note:Recommendation of Commissioner

25 It is not lawful for the Council to adopt or pass any vote, resolution, address or bill for the appropriation of any part of the public revenue of the Territories, or of any tax or impost, to any purpose that has not been first recommended to the Council by message of the Commissioner, in the session in which the vote, resolution, address or bill is proposed.

Marginal note:Appropriation of moneys granted by Parliament

26 When a sum of money is granted to Her Majesty by Parliament to defray expenses for a specified public service in the Territories, the power of appropriation by the Commissioner in Council over that sum is subject to the specified purpose for which it is granted.

Territorial Accounts

Marginal note:Submission of Territorial Accounts to Council

27 A report for each fiscal year of the Territories, called the Territorial Accounts, shall be laid before the Council by the Commissioner on or before such day following the termination of the fiscal year as the Council may fix, and the Council shall consider the report.

Marginal note:Form and contents

28 The Territorial Accounts shall be in such form as the Commissioner may direct and shall include

• (a) a report on the financial transactions of the fiscal year;

• (b) a statement, certified by the Auditor General of Canada, of the expenditures and revenues of the Territories for the fiscal year;

• (c) a statement, certified by the Auditor General of Canada, of assets and liabilities as at the termination of the fiscal year; and

• (d) such other information or statements as are required in support of the statements referred to in paragraphs (b) and (c), or as are required by ordinance or by the Minister.

Marginal note:Fiscal year

29 The fiscal year of the Territories is the period beginning on April 1 in one year and ending on March 31 in the next year.

Marginal note:Examination and report by Auditor General

• 30 (1) The accounts and financial transactions of the Territories shall be examined by the Auditor General of Canada who shall report annually to the Council the result of that examination, and the report shall state whether in his opinion

  • (a) proper books of account have been kept by the Territories;

  • (b) the financial statements of the Territories were prepared on a basis consistent with that of the preceding fiscal year and are in agreement with the books of account;

  • (c) the statement of expenditures and revenues gives a true and fair view of the expenditures and revenues of the Territories for the fiscal year;

  • (d) the statement of assets and liabilities gives a true and fair view of the affairs of the Territories at the end of the fiscal year; and

  • (e) the transactions of the Territories that have come to the notice of the Auditor General have been within the powers of the Territories under this Act and any other Act applicable to the Territories.

• Marginal note:Other matters

  (2) The Auditor General of Canada shall call attention to any other matter falling within the scope of the examination made under subsection (1) that in the opinion of the Auditor General should be brought to the attention of the Council.

Marginal note:Powers of Auditor General

31 The Auditor General of Canada has, in connection with the examination of the accounts of the Territories, all the powers that the Auditor General has under the Auditor General Act in connection with the examination of the accounts of Canada.

PART IIAdministration of Justice

Judicature

Marginal note:Appointment of judges

32 The Governor in Council shall appoint the judges of such superior, district or county courts as are now or may hereafter be constituted in the Territories.

Marginal note:Tenure of office of judges

33 The judges of the superior, district and county courts in the Territories shall hold office during good behaviour but are removable by the Governor in Council on address of the Senate and House of Commons and shall cease to hold office on attaining the age of seventy-five years.

Supreme Court

Marginal note:Ex officio judges

34 A judge, other than a deputy judge, of the Supreme Court of the Yukon Territory or of the Nunavut Court of Justice is ex officio a judge of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories.

Marginal note:Deputy judges

• 35 (1) The Governor in Council may appoint any person who is or has been a judge of a superior, county or district court of any of the provinces or a barrister or advocate of at least ten years standing at the bar of any province to be a deputy judge of the Court and fix his remuneration and allowances.

• Marginal note:Duration of appointment

  (2) A deputy judge may be appointed pursuant to subsection (1) for any particular case or cases or for any specified period.

• Marginal note:Tenure of office

  (3) A deputy judge holds office during good behaviour, but is removable by the Governor General on address of the Senate and House of Commons.

Marginal note:Residence

36 Unless the Governor in Council, by order, otherwise provides, the judges of the Court, other than ex officio judges and deputy judges, shall reside in the city of Yellowknife or within forty kilometres thereof.

Marginal note:Exercise of powers of stipendiary magistrate

37 Where in any Act, ordinance or other law in force in the Territories it is expressed that a power or authority is to be exercised or a thing is to be done by a stipendiary magistrate of the Territories, the power or authority shall be exercised or the thing shall be done by a judge of the Court or, where the power, authority or thing is within the jurisdiction given to him pursuant to this Act, by a police magistrate.

Marginal note:Jurisdiction to try criminal cases

• 38 (1) Every judge of the Court, with respect to any criminal offence committed or charged to have been committed within the Territories, has and may exercise and perform, not only within the Territories but also in any place in Canada that is not within the Territories, all the powers, duties and functions of the Court.

• Marginal note:Application of laws

  (2) All statutory and other provisions of the law applicable to criminal proceedings within the Territories apply in like manner to proceedings instituted or to be instituted or prosecuted under this section at any place not within the Territories.

• Marginal note:Enforcement of decisions

  (3) Any judgment, conviction, sentence or order pronounced or made in any proceedings held outside the Territories under this section may be enforced or executed at the place at which it is pronounced or made or elsewhere, either within or outside the Territories, as the judge of the Court may direct, and the proper officers of the Territories have and may exercise all powers and authority necessary or requisite for the enforcement or execution thereof at the place where it is directed to be enforced or executed, notwithstanding that the place is not within the Territories.

Court of Appeal

Marginal note:Sittings

39 The Court of Appeal of the Territories may sit in the Territories, in the Province of Alberta or in Nunavut.

Confinement of Prisoners

Marginal note:Prisons in the Territories

40 The following places in the Territories are prisons, jails or lock-ups for the confinement of persons charged with the commission of any offence under a statute, ordinance or other law in force in the Territories or sentenced thereunder to a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years:

• (a) every guardhouse, guardroom or other place of confinement that is maintained or managed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; and

• (b) every building or part thereof or other enclosure, other than those referred to in paragraph (a), that is designated as a prison, jail or lock-up for the purposes of this section and section 41 by the Commissioner in Council.

Marginal note:Custody of R.C.M.P., where no prison

41 Where it is impossible or inconvenient, by reason of absence or remoteness, to confine a person referred to in section 40 in a prison, jail or lock-up, the person may be sentenced or directed by a judge of the Court, police magistrate or justice of the peace, as the case may be, to be placed and kept in the custody of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Marginal note:Regulations respecting R.C.M.P. confinement places

42 The Governor in Council may make rules and regulations for the management, discipline and policy of guardhouses, guardrooms or other places of confinement referred to in paragraph 40(a), for the duties and conduct of persons employed therein or otherwise charged with the custody of prisoners and for all matters pertaining to the maintenance, discipline or conduct of prisoners including their employment outside as well as within a guardhouse, guardroom or other place of confinement.

Repeal

Marginal note:Repeal of this Part

43 The Governor in Council may declare this Part or any provision thereof, except sections 32 and 33, to be repealed on a day or days to be fixed by proclamation.

PART II.1Official Languages

Marginal note:Official Languages Ordinance

43.1 Subject to section 43.2, the ordinance entitled the Official Languages Act, made on June 28, 1984 by the Commissioner in Council, as amended on June 26, 1986, may be amended or repealed by the Commissioner in Council only if the amendment or repeal is concurred in by Parliament through an amendment to this Act.

Marginal note:Additional rights and services

43.2 Nothing in this Part shall be construed as preventing the Commissioner, the Commissioner in Council or the Government of the Territories from granting rights in respect of, or providing services in, English and French or any languages of the aboriginal peoples of Canada, in addition to the rights and services provided for in the ordinance referred to in section 43.1, whether by amending the ordinance, without the concurrence of Parliament, or by any other means.

Marginal note:Amendment concurred in

43.3 The ordinance entitled An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, made on October 29, 1990 by the Commissioner in Council, is hereby concurred in by Parliament.

Marginal note:Idem

43.4 The ordinance entitled An Act to amend the Official Languages Act, made on March 12, 1992 by the Commissioner in Council, is hereby concurred in by Parliament.

PART IIIGeneral

Lands

Marginal note:Lands vested in Her Majesty

• 44 (1) The following properties are and remain vested in Her Majesty in right of Canada:

  • (a) lands acquired with territorial funds before, on or after April 1, 1955;

  • (b) public lands, the administration and control of which has before, on or after April 1, 1955 been transferred by the Governor in Council to the Commissioner;

  • (c) all roads, streets, lanes and trails on public lands; and

  • (d) lands acquired by the Commissioner pursuant to tax sale proceedings.

• Marginal note:Administration and control

  (2) The Commissioner has the administration and control of the properties referred to in subsection (1) and may use, sell or otherwise dispose of them and retain the proceeds of the use or disposition.

• Marginal note:Transfer to Minister

  (3) The Commissioner may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, transfer, either in perpetuity or for any lesser term, the administration and control of the entire or any lesser interest in any property referred to in subsection (1) to any Minister of the Government of Canada.

Marginal note:Transfer to Commissioner

44.1 The Governor in Council may transfer, either in perpetuity or for any lesser term, the administration and control of the entire or any lesser interest in any public lands to the Commissioner.

Reindeer

Marginal note:Regulations respecting reindeer

45 The Governor in Council may make regulations

• (a) authorizing the Minister to enter into agreements with Indians or Inuit, or persons with Indian or Inuit blood living the life of an Indian or Inuk, for the herding of reindeer that are the property of Her Majesty, which agreements, if deemed advisable by the Minister, shall include provisions for the transfer of such portions of the herds as may be therein specified to the herders on satisfactory completion of the agreements;

• (b) for the control, management, administration and protection of reindeer in the Territories, whether they are the property of Her Majesty or otherwise;

• (c) for the sale of reindeer and the slaughter or other disposal of surplus reindeer and the carcasses thereof; and

• (d) controlling or prohibiting the transfer or shipment by any means of reindeer or their carcasses or parts thereof, whether they are the property of Her Majesty or otherwise, from any place in the Territories to any other place within or outside the Territories.

Marginal note:Seizure

46 Where a peace officer or any person who is a game officer under any ordinance believes on reasonable grounds that any reindeer has been killed, that any reindeer or part thereof has been taken, transferred, shipped or had in possession in contravention of the regulations or that any vessel, vehicle, aeroplane, firearm, trap or other article or thing has been used in contravention of the regulations, he may, in the Territories, without a warrant, effect seizure thereof.

Marginal note:Forfeiture

47 Every seizure made under section 46 shall be reported as soon as practicable to a justice of the peace who may, on satisfying himself that the reindeer or part thereof or the vessel, vehicle, aeroplane, firearm, trap or other article or thing has been taken, dealt with or used in contravention of the regulations, declare it to be forfeited to Her Majesty and, on that declaration, it is forfeited.

Marginal note:Application of the Game Export Act

48 The Game Export Act applies to reindeer or the carcasses or part thereof and, for that purpose, under that Act

• (a) "game" shall be deemed to include reindeer, carcasses or part thereof;

• (b) "killed" shall be deemed to include the taking or capture of or dealing in live reindeer; and

• (c) "export permit" shall be deemed to include a permit or licence issued under the regulations made pursuant to section 45 of this Act.

Intoxicants

Marginal note:Manufacture of intoxicants

• 49 (1) No intoxicant shall be manufactured, compounded or made in the Territories except by permission of the Commissioner.

• Marginal note:Importation of intoxicants

  (2) No intoxicant shall be imported or brought into the Territories from any place outside the Territories, whether it is in Canada or elsewhere, except by permission of the Commissioner or a person authorized by him.

Marginal note:Subject to customs and excise laws

50 Intoxicants manufactured, compounded or made in the Territories or imported or brought into the Territories are subject to the customs and excise laws of Canada.

Marginal note:Seizure

51 Where a peace officer believes on reasonable grounds that any intoxicant has been manufactured, compounded or made in the Territories or imported or brought into the Territories from any place outside the Territories in contravention of this Act or that any vessel, vehicle, aeroplane, appliance, article or thing has been used for any of the above purposes in contravention of this Act, he may, in the Territories, without a warrant, effect seizure thereof.

Marginal note:Forfeiture

52 Every seizure made under section 51 shall be reported as soon as practicable to a justice of the peace who may, on satisfying himself that the intoxicant or the vessel, vehicle, aeroplane, appliance, article or thing has been manufactured, compounded, made, imported, brought in or dealt with or used in contravention of this Act, declare it to be forfeited to Her Majesty and, on that declaration, it is forfeited.

Marginal note:Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act not applicable

53 The Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act does not apply to the importation, sending, taking or transportation of intoxicating liquor into the Territories.

Mentally Disordered Persons

Marginal note:Arrangements for transfer to provincial institutions

• 54 (1) The Commissioner may, subject to the approval of the Minister, arrange with any province for the admission to mental institutions, asylums or other suitable places in the province of

  • (a) mentally disordered persons, for the purpose of their confinement, care and maintenance until the pleasure of the Commissioner is made known or until they are discharged by law;

  • (b) persons in respect of whom the Court, a police magistrate of the Territories or a justice of the peace in and for the Territories has ordered that a psychiatric examination be made, for the purpose of that examination; and

  • (c) persons in respect of whom the Commissioner has approved psychiatric examination and treatment, for the purpose of that examination and, where necessary, treatment.

• Marginal note:Compensation to province

  (2) An arrangement described in subsection (1) may provide for compensation to be paid to the province in respect of the confinement, care, maintenance, examination and treatment of the persons described in that subsection.

• Marginal note:Payment out of Northwest Territories C.R.F.

  (3) The compensation paid to a province under subsection (2) shall be paid out of the Northwest Territories Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Marginal note:Recapture of escaped mentally disordered persons

• 55 (1) Where a mentally disordered person has escaped from a mental institution, asylum or other place of confinement, within or outside the Territories, any person employed therein or connected therewith or other person requested by the person in immediate charge or control thereof may, within forty-eight hours after the escape, without a warrant, retake the escaped person and return him to the place from which he escaped, or may, if a warrant is issued to him for that purpose, do so at any time after the escape up to the time specified in the warrant.

• Marginal note:Warrants

  (2) A warrant may be issued for the purposes of subsection (1) by the person in immediate charge or control of the mental institution, asylum or other place of confinement from which the escape was made and shall contain the name and description of the escaped mentally disordered person, the name and office, if any, of the person to whom it is issued, the place to which and the person to whom the escaped person is to be returned and the time, not exceeding three months, for which the warrant is valid.

• Marginal note:Custody of recaptured persons

  (3) An escaped person who is returned to custody under this section shall remain in custody under the authority by virtue of which he was detained prior to his escape.

Neglected Children

Marginal note:Arrangements for care in provincial institutions

• 56 (1) The Commissioner may, subject to the approval of the Minister, arrange with any province for the removal of neglected children from the Territories to foster homes or suitable institutions in that province, for their care, education and maintenance therein and for the compensation to be paid therefor to that province.

• Marginal note:Payment out of Northwest Territories C.R.F.

  (2) The compensation to be paid to a province under subsection (1) shall be paid out of the Northwest Territories Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Cultural Sites and Property

Marginal note:Regulations

57 The Governor in Council may make regulations for the protection, care and preservation of sites, works, objects and specimens of archaeological, ethnological or historical importance, interest or significance and explorers' cairns and explorers' documents.

Marginal note:Power to seize

58 Where any peace officer believes on reasonable grounds that any object, specimen or document has been removed, taken, shipped, had in possession or otherwise dealt with contrary to the regulations, he may, in the Territories, without a warrant, effect seizure thereof.

Marginal note:Forfeiture

59 Every seizure made under section 58 shall be reported as soon as practicable to a justice of the peace, who may, on satisfying himself that the object, specimen or document was removed, taken, shipped, had in possession or otherwise dealt with contrary to the regulations, declare it to be forfeited to Her Majesty and on that declaration it is forfeited.

Offence and Punishment

Marginal note:General offence and punishment

60 Every person who contravenes any provision of this Act or the regulations is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both.