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

Public Register

Marginal note:Public register

• 142.1 (1) The Review Board shall maintain at its main office a register convenient for use by the public in which shall be entered the following:

  • (a) all documents that are produced, collected or received by the Review Board, a review panel of the Review Board, a review panel or a joint panel established jointly by the Review Board and any other person or body in relation to any environmental assessment or environmental impact review;

  • (b) any notice it receives under subsection 124(1) or (2); and

  • (c) any report it receives under paragraph 125(1)(a) or (2)(a).

• Marginal note:Register to be open to inspection

  (2) The register shall be open to inspection by any person during the Review Board’s normal business hours, subject to the payment of any fee prescribed by the regulations.

• Marginal note:Copies of contents of register

  (3) The Review Board shall, on request and on payment of any fee prescribed by the regulations, make available copies of information contained in the register.

• Marginal note:Internet access

  (4) The register shall also be made accessible to the public via the Internet.

• Marginal note:Categories of available information

  (5) Despite any other provision of this Act, the register shall contain information only if

  • (a) it has otherwise been made publicly available; or

  • (b) in the case of a record, the Review Board

    • (i) determines that it would have been disclosed to the public in accordance with the Access to Information Act if a request had been made in respect of that record under that Act at the time the record came under the control of the Review Board, including any record that would be disclosed in the public interest under subsection 20(6) of that Act, or

    • (ii) has reasonable grounds to believe that it would be in the public interest to disclose the record because it is required for the public to participate effectively in a preliminary screening, environmental assessment or environmental impact review, other than any record whose disclosure would be prohibited under section 20 of the Access to Information Act.

• Marginal note:Applicability of sections 27, 28 and 44 of Access to Information Act

  (6) Sections 27, 28 and 44 of the Access to Information Act apply to any information described in subsection 27(1) of that Act that the Review Board intends to be included in the register with any necessary modifications, including the following:

  • (a) the information is deemed to be a record that the head of a government institution intends to disclose; and

  • (b) any reference to the person who requested access shall be disregarded.

Policy Directions

Marginal note:Minister’s policy directions to Review Board

• 142.2 (1) The federal Minister may, after consultation with the Review Board and the Tlicho Government, give written policy directions that are binding on the Review Board or its review panels with respect to the exercise of any of their functions under this Act.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (2) Policy directions do not apply in respect of a proposal for a development that, at the time the directions are given, is before the Review Board or one of its review panels.

• Marginal note:Conflict

  (3) If there is a conflict between policy directions given under this section and the provisions of any Act of Parliament, any regulations made under an Act of Parliament or any territorial law, those provisions prevail to the extent of the conflict.

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

• 143 (1) The Governor in Council may, following consultation by the federal Minister with the territorial Minister, first nations and the Tlicho Government, make regulations for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Part and, in particular, regulations

  • (a) prescribing procedures in relation to preliminary screenings, environmental assessments and environmental impact reviews generally, including

    • (i) limits on the time for making any decision or recommendation, including a decision of a responsible minister, and

    • (ii) the form and content of reports required by this Part;

  • (b) specifying the federal and territorial laws in respect of which preliminary screenings of proposals must be conducted by regulatory authorities and designated regulatory agencies before the issuance of licences, permits or other authorizations;

  • (c) exempting any development or class of development from a preliminary screening for a reason referred to in paragraph 124(1)(a) or (b);

  • (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;

  • (e) fixing a period for the purposes of subsection 138.1(2) and respecting mediation referred to in that subsection;

  • (f) fixing the period within which a matter may be referred to arbitration under subsection 138.1(3) and respecting arbitration under that subsection;

  • (g) fixing a period for the purposes of subsections 138.1(4) and 141(4);

  • (h) respecting the recovery of amounts and costs for the purposes of section 142.01, including prescribing the amounts, services and period for the purposes of that section and exempting any class of person or body that proposes to carry out the development from the application of that section; and

  • (i) establishing requirements respecting any consultation that may be undertaken under this Part, whether or not it is expressly provided for, with a first nation, the Tlicho First Nation, the Tlicho Government or an Aboriginal people who uses an area outside the Mackenzie Valley, including the manner in which it is to be conducted, and providing for the delegation of certain procedural aspects of that consultation.

• Marginal note:Consultation with Review Board

  (2) Regulations may only be made under any of paragraphs (1)(a) and (d) to (i), and regulations made under paragraph (1)(b) or (c) may only be amended, following consultation by the federal Minister with the Review Board.

• Marginal note:Consultation with boards established under Parts 3 and 4

  (2.1) In addition, the federal Minister shall consult the boards established under Parts 3 and 4 before making or amending any regulations under paragraph (1)(i) that relate to any consultation undertaken by one of those boards in relation to a preliminary screening.

• 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 Impact Assessment Act, by virtue of regulations made under paragraph 109(1)(b) of that Act.

Marginal note:Incorporation by reference — limitation removed

143.1 The limitation set out in paragraph 18.1(2)(a) of the Statutory Instruments Act to the effect that a document must be incorporated as it exists on a particular date does not apply to the powers to make regulations under this Part.

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 a land and water board established by Part 3 or 4, that exercises regulatory powers pursuant to 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.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) Policy directions of general application governing an agency, or the power to approve, vary or rescind an agency’s decisions, do not constitute specific control or direction for the purposes of subsection (1).

PART 5.1Administrative Monetary Penalties

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

144.1 The following definitions apply in this Part.

board

board has the same meaning as in section 51 or subsection 96(1), as the case may be. (office)

inspector

inspector means a person designated as an inspector under section 84 or 142.24. (inspecteur)

management area

management area has the same meaning as in section 51. (zone de gestion)

penalty

penalty means an administrative monetary penalty imposed under this Part for a violation. (pénalité)

review body

review body means

• (a) with respect to a violation relating to Part 3 that is designated as such by a regulation made under paragraph 144.11(1)(a),

  • (i) the Gwich’in Land and Water Board, if the violation was committed in its management area,

  • (ii) the Sahtu Land and Water Board, if the violation was committed in its management area,

  • (iii) the Wekeezhii Land and Water Board, if the violation was committed in its management area, or

  • (iv) the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, if the violation was committed in an area outside any management area;

• (b) despite subparagraphs (a)(i) to (iii), the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board, if the violation relating to Part 3 that was committed in a management area is a failure to comply with a term or condition of any licence, permit or other authorization issued by that Board or a contravention of any order, direction or decision made or given in relation to such a licence, permit or other authorization; and

• (c) with respect to a violation relating to Part 5 that is designated as such by a regulation made under paragraph 144.11(1)(a), the federal Minister. (réviseur)

Federal Minister’s Powers

Marginal note:Regulations

• 144.11 (1) The federal Minister may, with the approval of the Governor in Council and following consultation with the Gwich’in and Sahtu First Nations and the Tlicho Government, make regulations for the purposes of sections 144.12 to 144.31, including regulations

  • (a) designating as a violation that may be proceeded with in accordance with this Act

    • (i) the contravention of any specified provision of this Act or of any of its regulations,

    • (ii) the contravention of any order, direction or decision, whether of a specified class or not, made or given under this Act, or

    • (iii) the failure to comply with a term or condition, whether of a specified class or not, of any licence, permit or other authorization or development certificate or amended development certificate issued under this Act;

  • (b) respecting the determination of or the method of determining the amount payable as the penalty, which may be different for individuals and other persons, for each violation;

  • (c) establishing the form and content of notices of violation;

  • (d) respecting the service of documents required or authorized under this Act, including the manner and proof of service and the circumstances under which documents are presumed to be served;

  • (e) respecting the review by a review body in respect of a notice of violation; and

  • (f) respecting the publication of the nature of a violation, the name of the person who committed it and the amount of the penalty.

• Marginal note:Maximum amount of penalty

  (2) The amount that may be determined under any regulations made under paragraph (1)(b) as the penalty for each violation shall not be more than $25,000 in the case of an individual, and $100,000 in the case of any other person.