Languages

Marginal note:Language of business

• 25. (1) The Board shall conduct its business in both of the official languages of Canada in accordance with the Official Languages Act and any directives of the Minister and, on request by a member, in Inuktitut.

• Marginal note:Public hearings

  (2) The Board shall conduct public hearings in both of the official languages of Canada in accordance with the Official Languages Act and any directives of the Minister and, on request by a member, an applicant or an intervenor, in Inuktitut.

• Marginal note:Translation or interpretation

  (3) Nothing in subsection (1) or (2) shall be construed to prevent the use of translation or interpretation services where a member is otherwise unable to conduct business in Inuktitut or in either official language.

• Marginal note:Witnesses

  (4) The Board has, in any proceedings before it, the duty to ensure that any person giving evidence before it may be heard in Inuktitut or in either official language, and that in being so heard the person will not be placed at a disadvantage by not being heard in another of those languages.

Head Office and Meetings

Marginal note:Head office

26. The head office of the Board shall be at Gjoa Haven or at such other place in Nunavut as the Governor in Council may designate.

Marginal note:Business meetings

• 27. (1) The Board shall ordinarily hold its meetings in Nunavut.

• Marginal note:Participation by telephone

  (2) Subject to the rules and by-laws of the Board, any member may participate in a business meeting by means of telephone or other communications facilities that are likely to enable all persons participating in the meeting to hear each other, and a member so participating is deemed for all purposes of this Part to be present at that meeting.

Status and General Powers

Marginal note:Status

• 28. (1) The Board is an institution of public government but is not an agent of Her Majesty.

• Marginal note:Property and contracts

  (2) The Board may, for the purposes of conducting its business,

  • (a) acquire property in its own name and dispose of the property; and

  • (b) enter into contracts in its own name.

• Marginal note:Legal proceedings

  (3) Actions, suits or other legal proceedings in respect of any right or obligation acquired or incurred by the Board may be brought or taken by or against the Board in its name in any court that would have jurisdiction if the Board were a corporation.

Marginal note:Panels

• 29. (1) The Board may establish panels of the Board and delegate any of its powers, duties and functions to them.

• Marginal note:Composition

  (2) Every panel shall consist of equal numbers of members appointed to the Board on the nomination of the designated Inuit organization or Makivik, as the case may be, and other members.

Marginal note:Staff

30. The Board may employ such officers and employees and engage the services of such agents, advisers and experts as are necessary for the proper conduct of its business, and may fix the terms and conditions of their employment or engagement and pay their remuneration.

Marginal note:Indemnification of Board members and employees

31. The members and employees of the Board shall be indemnified by the Board against all damages awarded against them, any settlement paid by them with the approval of the Minister and all expenses reasonably incurred by them, in respect of any claim arising out of their functions as members or employees, if those functions were carried out honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of the Board.

Financial Provisions

Marginal note:Annual budget

• 32. (1) The Board shall annually submit a budget for the following fiscal year to the Minister for consideration.

• Marginal note:Accounts

  (2) The Board shall maintain books of account and records in relation to them in accordance with accounting principles recommended by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants or its successor.

• Marginal note:Consolidated financial statements

  (3) The Board shall, within such time after the end of each fiscal year as the Minister specifies, prepare consolidated financial statements in respect of that fiscal year in accordance with the accounting principles referred to in subsection (2), and shall include in the consolidated financial statements any information or statements that are required in support of them.

• Marginal note:Audit

  (4) The accounts, financial statements and financial transactions of the Board shall be audited annually by the auditor of the Board and, where the Minister requests, the Auditor General of Canada. The auditor and, where applicable, the Auditor General of Canada shall make a report of the audit to the Board and the Minister.

Rules and By-laws

Marginal note:Powers of Board

• 33. (1) The Board may make rules and by-laws respecting the conduct and management of its business.

• Marginal note:Principles to be applied

  (2) The Board shall apply the following principles when making rules or by-laws for the conduct of public hearings:

  • (a) the admission of evidence that would not normally be admissible under strict rules of evidence shall be allowed, and appropriate weight shall be given to such evidence;

  • (b) due regard and weight shall be given to Inuit culture, customs and knowledge; and

  • (c) procedural fairness shall be observed.

• Marginal note:Non-application of Statutory Instruments Act

  (3) Sections 3, 5 and 11 of the Statutory Instruments Act do not apply in respect of rules and by-laws of the Board.

Marginal note:Pre-publication

• 34. (1) The Board shall give notice at least sixty days in advance of making any rule or by-law about practice and procedure for applications and hearings before it by

  • (a) publishing the proposed rule or by-law in a newspaper or other periodical that, in the opinion of the Board, has a large circulation in Nunavut; and

  • (b) sending a copy of the proposed rule or by-law to the council of each municipality in Nunavut.

• Marginal note:Representations invited

  (2) The notice referred to in subsection (1) shall include an invitation to interested persons to make representations in writing to the Board about the proposed rule or by-law within sixty days after publication of the notice.

• Marginal note:Response to representations

  (3) The Board may not make the rule or by-law until after it has responded to any representations made within the time limit referred to in subsection (2).

• Marginal note:Exception

  (4) Once a notice is published under subsection (1), no further notice is required to be published about any amendment to the proposed rule or by-law that results from representations made by interested persons.

• Marginal note:Publication

  (5) As soon as possible after the rule or by-law has been made, the Board shall

  • (a) publish it in a newspaper or other periodical that, in the opinion of the Board, has a large circulation in Nunavut; and

  • (b) publish a notice in the Canada Gazette that the rule or by-law has been made, indicating the newspaper or periodical in which it has been published.

Objects of Board and Its Relationship with Other Bodies

Marginal note:Objects

35. The objects of the Board are to provide for the conservation and utilization of waters in Nunavut, except in a national park, in a manner that will provide the optimum benefit from those waters for the residents of Nunavut in particular and Canadians in general.

Marginal note:Land use plans

• 36. (1) The Board shall contribute fully to the development of land use plans so far as they concern waters in Nunavut, by providing recommendations to the Nunavut Planning Commission.

• Marginal note:Conformity with the plan

  (2) In order to avoid unnecessary duplication and to ensure that projects are dealt with in a timely manner, the Board shall cooperate and coordinate its consideration of applications with the Nunavut Planning Commission’s review of projects under section 11.5.10 of the Agreement for conformity with any applicable land use plans approved in accordance with Part 5 of Article 11 of the Agreement.

Marginal note:Environmental screening and review of projects

• 37. (1) In order to avoid unnecessary duplication and to ensure that projects are dealt with in a timely manner, the Board shall cooperate and coordinate its consideration of applications with the Nunavut Impact Review Board or any federal environmental assessment panel referred to in section 12.4.7 of the Agreement in relation to the screening of projects by that Board and the review of projects by that Board or panel.

• Marginal note:Joint hearings

  (2) The Board may, in lieu of conducting a separate public hearing in respect of a licence in connection with a project for which a public hearing is to be held by the Nunavut Impact Review Board or the panel referred to in subsection (1), as the case may be, conduct, in relation to the project, a joint hearing with that Board or panel or participate in the hearing of that Board or panel.

Marginal note:Restriction on powers: non-conformity with plan

• 38. (1) The Board may not issue, amend or renew a licence to use waters or deposit waste if there is an applicable land use plan approved in accordance with Part 5 of Article 11 of the Agreement unless the Nunavut Planning Commission, in accordance with section 11.5.10 of the Agreement,

  • (a) has determined that the use or deposit, or in the case of an amendment any change to the use or deposit, conforms to the land use plan; or

  • (b) has approved a variance in respect of the use, deposit or change.

• Marginal note:Mandatory rejection of application

  (2) The Board shall reject an application in relation to a licence where the Nunavut Planning Commission has informed the Board that the use, deposit or change to which the application relates does not conform to the land use plan and that the Commission will not be approving a variance.

• Marginal note:Effect of rejection

  (3) If the Board rejects an application under subsection (2),

  • (a) the Board shall not take any further action in respect of that application, including any action referred to in subsection 48(3), section 51 or subsection 52(1) or 55(1); and

  • (b) the applicant may, within one year after the date of the rejection, request an exemption in accordance with section 11.5.11 of the Agreement.

• Marginal note:Reconsideration of application

  (4) If an exemption referred to in paragraph (3)(b) is obtained, subsection (1) and paragraph (3)(a) no longer apply and the Board shall resume processing the application.

• Marginal note:Date of application

  (5) For the purposes of section 47, the date of an application that has been resumed under subsection (4) is the date on which the application was first made.