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

Marginal note:Benefits

19 The members of a board and its employees are deemed to be employees for the purposes of the Government Employees Compensation Act and to be employed in the federal public administration for the purposes of any regulations made pursuant to section 9 of the Aeronautics Act.

Marginal note:Protection from personal liability

20 The members and employees of a board are not liable for anything done or omitted to be done in good faith in the exercise or performance or purported exercise or performance of any powers, duties or functions under this Act.

General Powers

Marginal note:Decision by majority

• 21 (1) A decision of a majority of the members of a board present at a meeting is a decision of the board.

• Marginal note:Participation by telephone

  (2) Subject to the by-laws of a board, any member may participate in a 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 to be present at the meeting.

Marginal note:Government information

22 Subject to any other federal or territorial law and to any Tlicho law or Déline law, a board may obtain from any department or agency of the federal or territorial government, the Tlicho Government or the Déline Got’ine Government any information in the possession of the department, agency, Tlicho Government or Déline Got’ine Government that the board requires for the performance of its functions.

Marginal note:Enforcement of orders

23 A decision or order of a board may be made an order of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories by the filing of a certified copy of it with the registrar of the Court, and a decision or order so filed is enforceable in the same manner as an order of that Court.

Marginal note:Hearings

24 In addition to hearings that a board is authorized or required to hold under this Act, a board may conduct any hearings that it considers to be desirable for the purpose of carrying out any of its functions.

Marginal note:Coordination

24.1 A board shall coordinate its activities, including hearings, with the activities of

• (a) other boards;

• (b) departments and agencies of the federal government that have responsibility for the administration, management and control of parks to which the Canada National Parks Act applies or lands acquired pursuant to the Historic Sites and Monuments Act;

• (c) committees established under any of the land claim agreements for the management of parks to which the Canada National Parks Act applies;

• (d) committees, or similar bodies, established for the management of protected areas as defined in any of the land claim agreements;

• (e) renewable resources boards established under any of the land claim agreements; and

• (f) land use planning bodies established for Wekeezhii or any part of Wekeezhii.

Marginal note:Judicial powers of a board

25 In proceedings before a board established under Part 3, 4 or 5, the board has the powers, rights and privileges of a superior court with respect to the attendance and examination of witnesses and the production and inspection of documents.

Financial Provisions

Marginal note:Annual budget

• 26 (1) A board shall in each year submit for the consideration of the federal Minister an operating budget for the following fiscal year.

• Marginal note:Accounts

  (2) A board shall maintain books of account and related records in accordance with accounting principles recommended by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada or its successor.

• Marginal note:Consolidated financial statements

  (3) A board shall annually prepare consolidated financial statements in accordance with the accounting principles referred to in subsection (2) and shall include in them such supporting information or statements as are required.

• Marginal note:Audit

  (4) The accounts, financial statements and financial transactions of a board may be audited by the Auditor General of Canada, who shall make a report of the audit to the board, which shall transmit the report to the federal Minister.

• Marginal note:Funding

  (5) The federal Minister may establish funding arrangements with each board specifying the manner in which funding will be made available pursuant to a budget approved by the federal Minister.

Marginal note:Payment of fees

27 Fees paid pursuant to any provision of this Act or the regulations shall be deposited to the credit of the Receiver General.

Reports

Marginal note:Annual report

• 28 (1) A board shall, within three months after the end of each fiscal year, submit to the federal Minister, in such form as the Minister may specify, a report on the activities of the board in that year including its financial statements for the year.

• Marginal note:Publication

  (2) The federal Minister shall make the annual report of a board available to the public.

By-laws, Rules and Other Instruments

Marginal note:By-laws

29 A board may make by-laws respecting the conduct and management of its internal administrative affairs, including by-laws providing for the maintenance at its office of the minutes of its meetings.

Marginal note:Rules

• 30 (1) Subject to any other provisions of this Act, a board may make rules

  • (a) respecting its practice and procedure in relation to applications to the board and their disposition, including the service of documents, the imposition of reasonable time limits and the submission of comments by the public; and

  • (b) for preventing trade secrets and information described in section 20 of the Access to Information Act from being disclosed or made public as a result of their being used as evidence before the board, including rules providing for hearings to be held in private.

• Marginal note:Publication of notice

  (2) Before making rules under this section, a board shall publish notice of its intention in the Canada Gazette and in a newspaper circulated in the Mackenzie Valley, inviting interested persons to submit written representations to the board with respect to the proposed rules within thirty days after the publication of notice.

• Marginal note:No further notice

  (3) Where notice is published under subsection (2), further notice need not be published if the proposed rules are amended solely in response to representations submitted to the board.

Marginal note:Statutory Instruments Act

• 31 (1) Sections 3, 5 and 11 of the Statutory Instruments Act do not apply in respect of rules under section 30, a land use plan or amendment to a land use plan under Part 2, rules under subsection 49(2), guidelines or policies under section 65, policy directions under subsection 50.1(1) or 83(1), (2) or (2.1), directions under section 106, policy directions under section 109 or 109.1 or subsection 142.2(1) or guidelines under section 120.

• Marginal note:Notice in Canada Gazette

  (2) A notice shall be published in the Canada Gazette immediately after policy directions are received by a board, a land use plan or amendment thereto is approved, or any other instrument referred to in subsection (1) is made or issued, stating that copies thereof are available to the public at the main office of the board and at such other locations as the board considers appropriate.

• Marginal note:Statutory Instruments Act

  (3) For greater certainty, licences and permits issued by a board under Part 3 or 4, either before or after the coming into force of this subsection, as enacted by subsection 128(3) of the Northwest Territories Devolution Act, are not statutory instruments as defined in the Statutory Instruments Act.

Jurisdiction of Courts

Marginal note:Exclusive original jurisdiction

32 Despite section 18 of the Federal Courts Act, the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories has exclusive original jurisdiction to hear and determine an application for any relief against a board by way of an injunction or declaration or by way of an order in the nature of certiorari, mandamus, quo warranto or prohibition by the Attorney General of Canada, the Attorney General of the Northwest Territories or anyone directly affected by the matter in respect of which relief is sought.

PART 2Land Use Planning

Interpretation and Application

Definition of planning board

33 In this Part, planning board means the Gwich’in Land Use Planning Board or the Sahtu Land Use Planning Board established by sections 36 and 38, respectively.

Marginal note:Application of Part 2

34 Subject to subsection 46(2), this Part does not apply in respect of lands in a settlement area that comprise a park to which the Canada National Parks Act applies, that have been acquired pursuant to the Historic Sites and Monuments Act or that are situated within the boundaries of a local government.

Marginal note:Guiding principles

35 Land use planning for a settlement area shall be guided by the following principles:

• (a) the purpose of land use planning is to protect and promote the social, cultural and economic well-being of residents and communities in the settlement area, having regard to the interests of all Canadians;

• (b) special attention shall be devoted to the rights of the Gwich’in and Sahtu First Nations under their land claim agreements, to protecting and promoting their social, cultural and economic well-being and to the lands used by them for wildlife harvesting and other resource uses; and

• (c) land use planning must involve the participation of the first nation and of residents and communities in the settlement area.

Gwich’in Land Use Planning Board

Marginal note:Board established

• 36 (1) There is hereby established, in respect of the settlement area referred to in the Gwich’in Agreement, a board to be known as the Gwich’in Land Use Planning Board.

• Marginal note:Membership

  (2) The Board shall consist of five members including, apart from the chairperson, two members appointed on the nomination of the Gwich’in First Nation and one member appointed on the nomination of the territorial Minister.

• Marginal note:Quorum

  (3) A quorum of the Board consists of three members, including one of the members appointed on the nomination of the Gwich’in First Nation and one of the members not so appointed other than the chairperson.

Marginal note:Main office

37 The main office of the Board shall be located in the settlement area referred to in the Gwich’in Agreement.