Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act (S.C. 2003, c. 7)

Marginal note:Indemnification

18. 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 federal 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 performed honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of the Board.

Marginal note:Main office

19. The main office of the Board shall be at Whitehorse or at any other place in Yukon that may be designated by the Governor in Council.

Assessment Districts and Designated Offices

Marginal note:Assessment districts

• 20. (1) Following consultation by the federal minister with the territorial minister and the first nations, and in accordance with any agreement that may be concluded by those ministers with the first nations, the federal minister shall, by order, establish six contiguous assessment districts that together constitute the whole of Yukon.

• Marginal note:Change in number of districts

  (2) Where the Board recommends, on the basis of operational requirements, a change in the number of contiguous assessment districts that constitute Yukon, the federal minister shall, by order, change the number of assessment districts in accordance with the Board’s recommendation, following consultation with the territorial minister and the first nations, or else provide written reasons to the Board for rejecting the recommendation.

Marginal note:Alteration of boundaries

• 21. (1) The Board may, by order, alter the boundary between adjacent assessment districts, and shall do so where the federal minister changes the number of assessment districts.

• Marginal note:Consultation

  (2) Before altering the boundaries of assessment districts, the Board shall consult the designated offices for those assessment districts as well as the federal minister, the territorial minister, the Council and any first nation whose territory falls wholly or partly within those districts, and shall seek the views of residents and municipal governments of the communities located in those districts.

• Marginal note:Statutory Instruments Act

  (3) Sections 3, 5 and 11 of the Statutory Instruments Act do not apply in respect of an order altering boundaries, but the Board shall publish a notice of the order in the Canada Gazette, in a periodical that, in the Board’s opinion, has a large circulation in Yukon and, if any part of the affected assessment districts falls within the territory of the Tetlit Gwich’in, in a periodical distributed in the Gwich’in Settlement Area referred to in the Gwich’in Agreement.

Marginal note:Designated offices in named communities

• 22. (1) The federal minister shall name a community in each assessment district as the site of an office to be maintained by the Board and known as the designated office for that assessment district.

• Marginal note:Change of designated community

  (2) Before any change is made in the community named as the site of a designated office for an assessment district, the federal minister shall consult the territorial minister, the Council and any first nation whose territory falls wholly or partly within that district, and shall seek the views of residents and municipal governments of the communities located in that district.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (3) The federal minister shall publish a notice of the selection of a community, or of any change in the selection, in the Canada Gazette, in a periodical that, in the federal minister’s opinion, has a large circulation in Yukon and, if any part of the affected assessment district falls within the territory of the Tetlit Gwich’in, in a periodical distributed in the Gwich’in Settlement Area referred to in the Gwich’in Agreement.

Marginal note:Staff

• 23. (1) The staff of each designated office shall be composed of employees of the Board assigned to that office by the Board.

• Marginal note:Powers in relation to evaluations

  (2) The Board shall authorize one or more members of the staff to exercise the powers of the designated office relating to evaluations, and those persons may delegate any of those powers to another member of the staff.

Marginal note:Conflict of interest

• 24. (1) A member of the staff of a designated office may not participate in any business of that office if doing so would place the member in a material conflict of interest.

• Marginal note:Yukon Indian persons

  (2) A member of the staff is not in a material conflict of interest solely by virtue of being a Yukon Indian person.

Marginal note:Contracts and facilities

25. The Board shall, at the request of a designated office but in accordance with the approved budget of the Board, procure services required by that office and make property and facilities available to it.

Budgets and Reporting

Marginal note:Budgets of designated offices

26. Each designated office shall annually, after consultation with any first nation whose territory falls wholly or partly within its assessment district, prepare and submit a budget for the ensuing fiscal year to the Board.

Marginal note:Budget of Board

• 27. (1) The Board shall submit annually to the federal minister its budget for the ensuing fiscal year, which shall incorporate the budgets of the designated offices as submitted by them or as varied by the Board.

• Marginal note:Approval of budget

  (2) The federal minister may approve the budget as submitted by the Board, or with any variations that the federal minister may make after seeking the views of the Board, the territorial minister and the Council.

• Marginal note:Funding for languages and training

  (3) The Board shall consider including in its annual budget funding in order to enable its members and employees to carry out their functions in their traditional languages and in order to provide its members and employees with training, including cross-cultural orientation and education, for the purpose of improving their ability to carry out their duties.

Marginal note:Accounts

• 28. (1) The Board shall maintain books of account and related records in accordance with accounting principles recommended by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants or its successor.

• Marginal note:Consolidated financial statements

  (2) The Board shall, within the time after the end of each fiscal year that the federal minister specifies, prepare consolidated financial statements in respect of that fiscal year in accordance with the accounting principles referred to in subsection (1) and shall include in them any information or statements that are required in their support.

• Marginal note:Audit

  (3) The accounts, financial statements and financial transactions of the Board shall be audited annually by the auditor of the Board and, where the federal minister requests, by the Auditor General of Canada. The auditor and, where applicable, the Auditor General of Canada shall, as soon as practicable, make a report of the audit to the Board and the federal minister.

Marginal note:Annual report

29. The executive committee shall, within three months after the end of each fiscal year, prepare for the approval of the Board an annual report of the activities of the Board for that fiscal year, and the executive committee shall submit the approved report to the federal minister and make it available to the public.

Rules and By-Laws

Marginal note:Rules for executive committee and panels

• 30. (1) The Board shall make rules, applicable to screenings by the executive committee and reviews by panels of the Board, with respect to

  • (a) the form and content of proposals submitted under paragraph 50(1)(a) or of requests made under section 60;

  • (b) the determination of the scope of a project;

  • (c) for the purposes of section 46, the participation of interested persons and the public; and

  • (d) the periods within which the executive committee and panels of the Board must perform their functions under Part 2.

• Marginal note:Rules for executive committee and panels

  (2) The Board may make rules with respect to

  • (a) the manner in which proponents of projects must consult with first nations and residents of communities for the purposes of subsection 50(3);

  • (b) the conduct of screenings of projects by the executive committee and reviews of projects by panels of the Board;

  • (c) the reconsideration of recommendations referred back to the executive committee or a panel of the Board by a decision body;

  • (d) the membership of panels of the Board and the establishment of their terms of reference; and

  • (e) cooperation by the executive committee and panels of the Board with other bodies, including the coordination of functions.

• Marginal note:Other rules

  (3) The Board may make rules with respect to

  • (a) reviews of existing projects, reviews of plans and reviews of activities outside Yukon;

  • (b) the conduct of audits, and effects monitoring, of projects and existing projects under sections 110 and 111; and

  • (c) the conduct of studies and research under section 112.

• Marginal note:Categories of projects, etc.

  (4) Rules made under this section may provide for different types of screenings or reviews for different categories of projects, existing projects or plans, or activities outside Yukon, as the case may be.

Marginal note:Rules for designated offices

• 31. (1) The Board shall make rules with respect to the conduct of evaluations of projects by designated offices, which may include rules providing for

  • (a) different phases of the evaluation of projects; and

  • (b) different types of evaluations for different categories of projects.

• Marginal note:Rules for designated offices

  (2) The Board shall make rules, applicable to evaluations of projects by designated offices, with respect to

  • (a) the form and content of proposals submitted under paragraph 50(1)(b);

  • (b) the determination of the scope of a project;

  • (c) for the purposes of section 46, participation in evaluations by interested persons and the public;

  • (d) the submission of proposals for projects located in two or more assessment districts;

  • (e) the conduct of evaluations by two or more designated offices, jointly or by one of them on behalf of the other or others, under section 53; and

  • (f) the periods within which designated offices must perform their functions under Part 2.

• Marginal note:Rules for cooperation

  (3) The Board may make rules with respect to cooperation by designated offices with other bodies, including the coordination of functions.

• Marginal note:Collaboration with designated offices

  (4) The Board shall seek the collaboration of the designated offices in making rules under subsections (1) to (3).

• Marginal note:Rules made by designated office

  (5) A designated office may make rules with respect to the conduct of its evaluations, including rules respecting any of the matters specified in subsections (1) to (3), but rules made by the Board prevail over rules made by a designated office to the extent of any inconsistency.