Northwest Territories Act (S.C. 2014, c. 2, s. 2)

Marginal note:Supplementary report

41 The Auditor General of Canada may, at any time, inquire into and submit a supplementary report to the Legislative Assembly about any matter relating to the activities of the Government of the Northwest Territories, including whether

• (a) accounts have not been faithfully and properly maintained or public money has not been fully accounted for or paid, if so required by law, into the Consolidated Revenue Fund;

• (b) essential records have not been maintained or the rules and procedures applied have been insufficient to safeguard and control public property, to secure an effective check on the assessment, collection and proper allocation of the revenue and to ensure that expenditures have been made only as authorized;

• (c) money has been expended for purposes other than those for which it was appropriated by the Legislature or has been expended without due regard to economy or efficiency; or

• (d) satisfactory procedures have not been established to measure and report the effectiveness of programs, if such procedures could appropriately and reasonably be implemented.

Marginal note:Report at Commissioner’s request

42 At the Commissioner’s request, made with the consent of the Executive Council, the Auditor General of Canada may — if in his or her opinion it does not interfere with the Auditor General’s primary responsibilities — inquire into and report to the Legislative Assembly on any

• (a) matter relating to the financial affairs of the Government of the Northwest Territories or to public property in the Northwest Territories; or

• (b) person or organization that has received or is seeking financial aid from the Government of the Northwest Territories.

Marginal note:Auditor General’s powers

• 43 (1) For the purposes of carrying out his or her functions under this Act, the Auditor General of Canada has all the powers that he or she has under the Auditor General Act.

• Marginal note:Access to information

  (2) Except as provided by any law of the Legislature that expressly refers to this subsection, the Auditor General is entitled to free access at all convenient times to information that relates to the fulfilment of his or her responsibilities and is entitled to require and receive from the public service of the Northwest Territories any information, reports and explanations that he or she considers necessary for that purpose.

Administration of Justice

Judicature

Marginal note:Appointment of judges

44 The Governor in Council must appoint the judges of any superior, district or county courts in the Northwest Territories.

Marginal note:Tenure of judges

45 The judges of the superior, district and county courts in the Northwest Territories hold office during good behaviour but are removable by the Governor General on address of the Senate and House of Commons and cease to hold office on attaining the age of 75 years.

Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories

Marginal note:Judges

46 A judge — other than a deputy judge — of the Yukon Supreme Court or the Nunavut Court of Justice is, by reason of holding that office, a judge of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories.

Marginal note:Deputy judges

• 47 (1) The Governor in Council may appoint any person who is or has been a judge of a superior, district or county court of a province or a barrister or advocate of at least 10 years standing at the bar of a province to be a deputy judge of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories and fix his or her remuneration and allowances.

• Marginal note:Duration of appointment

  (2) A deputy judge may be appointed 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:Powers

  (4) A deputy judge must be sworn to the faithful performance of his or her duties in the same manner as a judge of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories and, during his or her appointment, has and may exercise and perform all the powers, duties and functions of a judge of that Court.

Marginal note:Jurisdiction — civil cases

48 The Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories has and may exercise and perform — in Yukon or Nunavut — all of its powers, duties and functions with respect to a civil case other than one for which the Court sits with a jury.

Marginal note:Jurisdiction — criminal cases

• 49 (1) A judge of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories has and may exercise and perform — anywhere in Canada — all of its powers, duties and functions with respect to any criminal offence committed or charged to have been committed in the Northwest Territories.

• Marginal note:Application of laws

  (2) All laws applicable to criminal proceedings held in the Northwest Territories apply in like manner to proceedings held under this section elsewhere in Canada.

• Marginal note:Enforcement

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

Court of Appeal of the Northwest Territories

Marginal note:Sittings

50 The Court of Appeal of the Northwest Territories may sit in the Northwest Territories or, unless a law of the Legislature provides otherwise, elsewhere in Canada.

Public Lands and Waters

Administration and Control

Marginal note:Public lands — Commissioner

• 51 (1) The Commissioner has the administration and control of public lands and may use, sell or otherwise dispose of those lands and retain the proceeds of the disposition.

• Marginal note:Exceptions

  (2) Despite subsection (1), the Commissioner does not have the administration and control of the following public lands unless they are transferred to him or her under section 54:

  • (a) those listed under subsection (3);

  • (b) those in respect of which the administration and control is relinquished by the Commissioner under section 53;

  • (c) those in respect of which the administration and control is taken by the Governor in Council under section 55; and

  • (d) those acquired by Her Majesty in right of Canada after the coming into force of section 1.

• Marginal note:List

  (3) The Governor in Council must, on the day on which section 1 comes into force, list the public lands that are excluded from the administration and control of the Commissioner.

Marginal note:Rights in respect of waters

• 52 (1) All rights in respect of waters belong to Her Majesty in right of Canada.

• Marginal note:Limitations

  (2) Subsection (1) is subject to any rights granted by or under an Act of Parliament in respect of waters.

• Marginal note:Commissioner

  (3) The Commissioner has the administration and control of all rights in respect of waters and may exercise those rights or sell or otherwise dispose of them and may retain the proceeds of the disposition.

• Marginal note:Exceptions

  (4) Despite subsection (3), the Commissioner does not have the administration and control of

  • (a) the right to the use and flow of waters for the production or generation of water power to which the Dominion Water Power Act applies; and

  • (b) the following rights in respect of waters unless the administration and control of them is transferred to him or her under section 54:

    • (i) those listed under subsection (5),

    • (ii) those in respect of which the administration and control is relinquished by the Commissioner under section 53,

    • (iii) those in respect of which the administration and control is taken by the Governor in Council under section 55, and

    • (iv) those acquired by Her Majesty in right of Canada after the coming into force of section 1.

• Marginal note:List

  (5) The Governor in Council must, on the day on which section 1 comes into force, list the rights in respect of waters that are excluded from the administration and control of the Commissioner.

Marginal note:Relinquishment by Commissioner

53 The Commissioner may, with the Governor in Council’s consent, relinquish — in perpetuity or for any lesser term — the administration and control of public lands and of rights in respect of waters.

Marginal note:Transfer to Commissioner

54 The Governor in Council may, with the Commissioner’s consent, transfer to the Commissioner — in perpetuity or for any lesser term — the administration and control of public lands and of rights in respect of waters.

Restrictions

Marginal note:Taking of administration and control by Governor in Council

• 55 (1) The Governor in Council may, on the Minister’s recommendation, take from the Commissioner the administration and control of public lands and rights in respect of waters if, subject to subsection (2), the Governor in Council considers it necessary to do so for the purposes of

  • (a) the national interest, including

    • (i) national defence or security,

    • (ii) establishing — or changing the boundaries of — a national park as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Parks Canada Agency Act, a national historic site as defined in that subsection or another area that is protected under an Act of Parliament, and

    • (iii) the creation of the infrastructure required for initiatives in respect of transportation or energy;

  • (b) the fulfilment of an obligation in respect of an Aboriginal or treaty right that is referred to in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982; or

  • (c) the settlement of an Aboriginal land claim or the implementation of an Aboriginal land claim agreement or other treaty, a settlement agreement or a self-government agreement.

• Marginal note:Consultation

  (2) The Minister must — before recommending the taking of the administration and control other than for a purpose related to national defence or security — consult the member of the Executive Council who is responsible for those public lands or those rights in respect of waters and any affected Aboriginal party on the boundaries of the lands that, and the location of the waters the rights in respect of which, are subject to the taking.

Marginal note:Prohibition order — public lands

56 The Governor in Council may, by order and on the Minister’s recommendation, prohibit the issuance under a law of the Legislature of interests in — or the authorization under a law of the Legislature of the conduct of activities on — the public lands that are specified in the order if the Governor in Council considers that the prohibition is required

• (a) before the taking of the administration and control of those lands under paragraph 55(1)(a) or (b); or

• (b) for the purposes of the settlement of an Aboriginal land claim or the implementation of an Aboriginal land claim agreement or other treaty, a settlement agreement or a self-government agreement.

Marginal note:Prohibition order — waters

57 The Governor in Council may, by order and on the Minister’s recommendation, prohibit any use of waters that is specified in the order — or the deposit of waste directly or indirectly into those waters — if the Governor in Council considers

• (a) that the use or deposit would be incompatible with or would interfere with a particular undertaking that is in the national interest; or

• (b) that the prohibition is required for the purposes of the settlement of an Aboriginal land claim or the implementation of an Aboriginal land claim agreement or other treaty, a settlement agreement or a self-government agreement.

Marginal note:Consultation — prohibition orders

58 The Minister must — before recommending that the Governor in Council make a prohibition order under section 56 or 57 — consult the member of the Executive Council who is responsible for those public lands or those waters and any affected Aboriginal party on

• (a) the boundaries of the lands — and the interests or activities — that are the subject of the order to be made under section 56; and

• (b) the location of the waters that are the subject of the order to be made under section 57.

Compensation

Marginal note:No expenditure or compensation

• 59 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the following are to be done without expenditures by or compensation to the Government of the Northwest Territories:

  • (a) a relinquishment under section 53;

  • (b) a taking under section 55; and

  • (c) the making of a prohibition order under section 56 or 57.

• Marginal note:Exception — improvements to public lands

  (2) If the Commissioner relinquishes to the Governor in Council, or the Governor in Council takes, the administration and control of public lands, the Government of Canada must compensate the Government of the Northwest Territories for any improvements that it has made to those lands.

• Marginal note:Negotiation

  (3) As soon as practicable after the relinquishment or the taking, the Government of Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories are to attempt to reach an agreement on the amount of compensation.

• Marginal note:Appraisal expert

  (4) If the Government of Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories are unable to reach an agreement, they are to refer the matter to an agreed upon person with expertise in determining the value of improvements to land.

• Marginal note:Amount of compensation

  (5) That person must determine that value on a basis similar to the determination of the fair actual value of the improvements — at the time the Governor in Council takes or has relinquished to it the administration and control of the lands — calculated in accordance with the method for calculating the fair actual value of improvements to land set out in a law of general application of the Legislature relating to the assessment of taxes on real property. That value is the amount of compensation.

Agreements

Marginal note:Management of waters

60 With the approval of the Governor in Council and subject to any agreement entered into under section 5 or 11 of the Canada Water Act, the Minister may, on behalf of the Government of Canada, enter into an agreement with a provincial government providing for the management of any waters that

• (a) are

  • (i) partially on lands situated in the Northwest Territories that are under the administration of a federal minister, and

  • (ii) partially on lands that are not under the administration of a federal minister; or

• (b) flow between

  • (i) lands situated in the Northwest Territories that are under the administration of a federal minister, and

  • (ii) lands that are not under the administration of a federal minister.

Amending this Act

Marginal note:Consultation — Minister

• 61 (1) Before a bill that amends or repeals this Act is introduced in the House of Commons by a federal minister, the Minister must consult the Executive Council with respect to the proposed amendment or repeal.

• Marginal note:Recommendations — Legislative Assembly

  (2) The Legislative Assembly may make any recommendations to the Minister that it considers appropriate with respect to the amendment or the repeal of this Act.