Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Territorial Lands Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

2 In this Act,

Crown

Couronne

Crown means Her Majesty in right of Canada; (Couronne)

grant

concession

grant means letters patent under the Great Seal, a notification and any other instrument by which territorial lands may be granted in fee simple or for an equivalent estate; (concession)

judge of the Court

juge

judge of the Court means, in relation to any matter arising in the Yukon Territory, a judge of the Supreme Court of the Yukon Territory, in relation to any matter arising in the Northwest Territories, a judge of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories, and, in relation to any matter arising in Nunavut, a judge of the Nunavut Court of Justice; (juge)

land

terre

land includes mines, minerals, easements, servitudes and all other interests in real property; (terre)

Minister

ministre

Minister means the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development or, in respect of any matter related to the Northern Pipeline referred to in the Northern Pipeline Act, the member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada designated as the Minister for the purposes of that Act; (ministre)

notification

notification

notification means a direction in a form prescribed by the Governor in Council pursuant to paragraph 23(k) and issued pursuant to subsection 9(2); (notification)

permit

permis

permit means a permit issued under this Act; (permis)

territorial lands

terres territoriales

territorial lands means lands, or any interest in lands, in the Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut that are vested in the Crown or of which the Government of Canada has power to dispose; (terres territoriales)

timber

bois

timber means trees standing or fallen, logs and bolts, cants, boards and lumber, and any other sawn or shaped product of trees. (bois)

Application

Marginal note:Application

• 3 (1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act applies only in respect of territorial lands under the administration of the Minister.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) Sections 9 and 12 to 16 and paragraph 23(k) apply to territorial lands the right to the beneficial use or to the proceeds of which is appropriated to the Commissioner of the Yukon Territory by section 47 of the Yukon Act, to the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories by section 44 of the Northwest Territories Act or to the Commissioner of Nunavut by section 49 of the Nunavut Act.

• Marginal note:Application

  (3) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as limiting the operation of the Yukon Quartz Mining Act, the Yukon Placer Mining Act, the Dominion Water Power Act or the Canada National Parks Act.

• Marginal note:Provisions not applicable in N.W.T. and Nunavut

  (4) Sections 17 and 18, paragraph 23(e) so far as it relates to forest experimental areas and national forests, paragraph 23(g) so far as it relates to timber districts and subsection 30(2) do not apply in respect of lands in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Land Management Zones

Marginal note:Land management zones

4 Subject to section 6, the Governor in Council may, where the Governor in Council deems it necessary for the protection of the ecological balance or physical characteristics of any area in the Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut, set apart and appropriate any territorial lands in that area as a land management zone.

Marginal note:Regulations concerning zones

5 Subject to section 6, the Governor in Council may make regulations respecting

• (a) the protection, control and use of the surface of land in a land management zone set apart and appropriated under section 4; and

• (b) the issue of permits for the use of the surface of land in a land management zone, the terms and conditions of those permits and the fees therefor.

Marginal note:Consultation with territories

6 The powers mentioned in sections 4 and 5 may be exercised by the Governor in Council only after consultation with the Council of the Yukon Territory, the Council of the Northwest Territories or the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, as the case may be, where the Governor in Council deems the consultation to be practicable or, otherwise, after consultation with each of the members of the Council or Executive Council in question with whom consultation can then be effected.

Marginal note:Offences and punishment

• 7 (1) Every person who

  • (a) contravenes any regulation made pursuant to section 5, or

  • (b) fails to comply with any term or condition of a permit issued pursuant to such regulations

  is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars.

• Marginal note:Continuing offence

  (2) Where an offence under subsection (1) is committed on more than one day or is continued for more than one day, it shall be deemed to be a separate offence for each day on which the offence is committed or continued.

Sale or Lease of Territorial Lands

Marginal note:Authorizing sale, lease, etc.

8 Subject to this Act, the Governor in Council may authorize the sale, lease or other disposition of territorial lands and may make regulations authorizing the Minister to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of territorial lands subject to such limitations and conditions as the Governor in Council may prescribe.

Marginal note:Interpretation

• 9 (1) In this section, the expressions registrar and certificate of title have the meanings assigned by the Land Titles Act or by any ordinance that replaces that Act in the Yukon Territory or the Northwest Territories, as the case may be.

• Marginal note:Issue of notification

  (2) A notification may be issued to a registrar directing the registrar to issue a certificate of title to a person named therein in respect of territorial lands described therein that are within the registration district administered by the registrar.

• Marginal note:Execution of notification

  (3) A notification pursuant to subsection (2) shall be signed and issued,

  • (a) in the case of territorial lands described in subsection 3(1), by the Minister, the Deputy Minister or any other officer of the Department authorized in writing for that purpose by the Minister; and

  • (b) in the case of territorial lands described in subsection 3(2), by the Commissioner of the Yukon Territory if the lands are in the Yukon Territory, by the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories if the lands are in the Northwest Territories or by the Commissioner of Nunavut if the lands are in Nunavut.

• Marginal note:Effect of issue of notification

  (4) The issue of a notification pursuant to subsection (2) has the same force and effect as a grant of territorial land made by letters patent under the Great Seal.

• Marginal note:Notification to set out nature of grant

  (5) A notification shall set out the nature of the estate thereby granted and any easements, rights or other interests excepted or reserved therefrom.

Marginal note:Prohibition

10 No territorial lands suitable for muskrat farming shall be sold.

Marginal note:Limitation on sale

• 11 (1) Not more than one hundred and sixty acres of territorial lands may be sold to any one person without the approval of the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Limitation on lease

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), not more than six hundred and forty acres of territorial lands may be leased to any one person without the approval of the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Other limitation

  (3) Where territorial lands are hay lands or lands suitable for grazing or muskrat farming, not more than six thousand four hundred acres may be leased to any one person without the approval of the Governor in Council.

Mining Rights

Marginal note:Leasing of mining rights

12 The Governor in Council may make regulations for the leasing of mining rights in, under or on territorial lands and the payment of royalties therefor, but such regulations shall provide for the protection of and compensation to the holders of surface rights.

Reservation from Grants

Marginal note:Reservation

13 Unless otherwise ordered by the Governor in Council, a strip of land one hundred feet in width, measured from ordinary high water mark or from the boundary line, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be reserved to the Crown out of every grant of territorial lands where the land extends

• (a) to the sea or an inlet thereof;

• (b) to the shore of any navigable water or an inlet thereof; or

• (c) to the boundary line between the Yukon Territory and Alaska, or between the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories, or between the Northwest Territories and Nunavut or between the Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut and the Province of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta or British Columbia.

Marginal note:Reservation of bed of body of water

14 Unless the grant contains a provision to the contrary, the bed, below ordinary high water mark, of a body of water shall be deemed to be reserved to the Crown out of every grant of territorial lands where the lands border a body of water.

Marginal note:Other reservations

15 There shall be deemed to be reserved to the Crown out of every grant of territorial lands

• (a) all mines and minerals whether solid, liquid or gaseous that may be found to exist in, under or on those lands, together with the right to work the mines and minerals and for this purpose to enter on, use and occupy the lands or so much thereof and to such extent as may be necessary for the working and extraction of the minerals; and

• (b) all rights of fishery and fishing and occupation in connection therewith on or around or adjacent to those lands.

Marginal note:Grant does not convey water rights

16 Unless the grant or other document establishing a grant, lease or other disposition of territorial lands expressly states the contrary, no grant, lease or other disposition of territorial lands conveys any exclusive right, privilege, property or interest with respect to any lake, river, stream or other body of water, within, bordering or passing through the lands.

Timber

17 [Repealed, 2002, c. 7, s. 245]

18 [Repealed, 2002, c. 7, s. 245]

Slides, Streams and Lake Fronts

Marginal note:Works for the movement of timber

19 Unless the grant or other document establishing a grant, lease or other disposition of territorial lands expressly states the contrary, no grant, lease or other disposition of territorial lands

• (a) conveys any right, title or interest in or to any slide, dam, pier, boom or other work constructed, for the purpose of facilitating the movement of timber, prior to the date of the grant, lease or other disposition of land;

• (b) affects the unimpeded right to use or repair the works referred to in paragraph (a); or

• (c) affects the unimpeded right to use, for the purpose of facilitating the movement of timber, all streams, lakes, bodies of water, portage roads or trails past rapids, falls or other natural obstacles or connecting bodies of water, or any land that has to be used in connection therewith.

Trespass on Territorial Lands

Marginal note:Summons to vacate or show cause

• 20 (1) Where under this Act the right of any person to use, possess or occupy territorial lands has been forfeited or where, in the opinion of the Minister, a person is wrongfully or without lawful authority using, possessing or occupying territorial lands and that person continues to use, possess or occupy or fails to deliver up possession of the lands, an officer of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development authorized by the Minister for that purpose may apply to a judge of the Court for a summons directed to that person calling on that person

  • (a) to forthwith vacate or abandon and cease using, possessing or occupying the lands; or

  • (b) within thirty days after service of the summons on that person to show cause why an order or warrant should not be made for the removal of that person from the lands.

• Marginal note:Warrant for removal

  (2) Where a summons has been served under subsection (1) and within thirty days from the service thereof the person named in the summons has not removed from, vacated or ceased using, possessing or occupying the lands or has not shown cause why he should not do so, a judge of the Court may make an order or warrant for that person’s summary removal from the lands.

• Marginal note:Persons executing warrant

  (3) A warrant made under subsection (2) shall be executed by a sheriff, bailiff, constable or other person to whom it is delivered for that purpose and he has all the powers, rights, immunities and privileges enjoyed by a sheriff, constable or other peace officer in the execution of his duty.

• Marginal note:Execution of warrant

  (4) A person to whom an order or warrant made under subsection (2) is addressed shall forthwith remove the person named therein from the lands and all members of that person’s family, employees, servants, labourers, tenants or other persons employed by or living with that person or that person’s tenants.

• Marginal note:Service of summons or warrant

  (5) Service of a summons or warrant under this section shall be made by leaving a copy with an adult person found on the lands and by posting up another copy in a conspicuous place on the lands or, where no adult person is found on the lands, by posting up copies in two conspicuous places thereon.

Marginal note:Offence and punishment for trespassing

21 A person who remains on territorial lands, returns thereto or assumes any possession or occupancy thereof after having been ordered to vacate them under section 20 or after having been removed therefrom under that section is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding three hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both.

Marginal note:Appeal

22 The order or judgment of a judge of the Court in any action or proceedings under this Act is subject to an appeal by a party to the action or proceedings in the same manner as any other order or judgment of a judge of the Court.

Powers of the Governor in Council

Marginal note:Powers of Governor in Council

23 The Governor in Council may

• (a) on setting out the reasons for withdrawal in the order, order the withdrawal of any tract or tracts of territorial lands from disposal under this Act;

• (b) set apart and appropriate territorial lands for the sites of places of public worship, burial grounds, schools, market places, jails, court houses, town halls, public parks or gardens, hospitals, harbours, landings, bridge sites, airports, landing fields, railway stations, town-sites, historic sites or for other public purposes and, at any time before the issue of a grant, alter or revoke those appropriations;

• (c) order that grants or leases for a nominal consideration be made of the lands appropriated under paragraph (b) and that there be expressed in any grant or lease the trusts and uses to which the territorial lands granted or leased thereby are subject;

• (d) set apart and appropriate such areas or lands as may be necessary

  • (i) to enable the Government of Canada to fulfil its obligations under treaties with the Indians and to make free grants or leases for that purpose, or

  • (ii) for any other purpose that the Governor in Council may consider to be conducive to the welfare of the Indians;

• (e) set apart and appropriate territorial lands for use as forest experimental areas, national forests, game preserves, game sanctuaries, bird sanctuaries, public shooting grounds, public resorts or for any other similar public purpose;

• (f) authorize the acquisition by any railway, power company or pipeline company, on and subject to such terms and conditions as may be deemed proper, of a right-of-way for a road bed, for transmission lines or for pipelines through territorial lands together with such other territorial lands as may be deemed necessary for stations, station grounds, workshops, buildings, yards, pumps, tanks, reservoirs or other appurtenances in connection therewith;

• (g) divide territorial lands into mining districts, land districts and timber districts;

• (h) make regulations or orders with respect to any question affecting territorial lands under which persons designated in the regulations or orders may inquire into such a question and may, for the purposes of the inquiry, summon and bring before them any person whose attendance they consider necessary to the inquiry, examine that person under oath, compel the production of documents and do all things necessary to provide a full and proper inquiry;

• (i) prescribe a tariff of fees for copies of maps, plans, field notes, documents, papers and other records pertaining to territorial lands, and for the preparation of documents evidencing a sale, lease or other disposition of territorial lands and for the registration of any documents pertaining to territorial lands;

• (j) make regulations respecting the protection, control and use of the surface of territorial lands;

• (k) prescribe the form of the notification that may be issued pursuant to section 9 and the fee for the issue thereof; and

• (l) make such orders and regulations as are deemed necessary to carry out the purposes and provisions of this Act.

Marginal note:Publication in the Canada Gazette

24 A copy of

• (a) each order setting apart and appropriating any territorial lands as a land management zone that the Governor in Council proposes to make under section 4, and

• (b) each regulation or amendment to a regulation that the Governor in Council proposes to make under section 5 or paragraph 23(j),

shall be published in the Canada Gazette and a reasonable opportunity shall be afforded to all interested persons to make representations to the Minister with respect thereto.

General

Marginal note:Effect of receipt

25 A receipt for payment made on the filing of an application to purchase or lease land does not entitle the person making the payment to take, occupy or use the land described in the receipt.

Marginal note:Execution of documents

26 Any lease, agreement, licence, permit or notice of cancellation issued or made pursuant to this Act and any consent to any assignment of any such lease, agreement, licence or permit may be executed on behalf of the Crown by the Minister, the Deputy Minister or by any other officer of the Department authorized in writing for the purpose by the Minister.

Marginal note:Interest

27 Whenever interest is payable under or by virtue of this Act or for or on account of any claim, matter or thing arising under any provision of this Act, the rate of interest shall be five per cent per annum, whether that interest is payable under the terms of any sealed or unsealed instrument or not.

Marginal note:Forms

28 The Minister may prescribe forms of leases, agreements of sale, licences and other documents required for use under this Act, but not including instruments issued under the Great Seal.

Marginal note:Government employees

• 29 (1) Except by or under the authority of an order of the Governor in Council, no officer or employee of or under the Government of Canada shall

  • (a) directly or indirectly, in his own name or in the name of any other person, purchase or acquire any territorial land or any interest therein; or

  • (b) be interested as shareholder or otherwise in any corporation that purchases, acquires or holds any territorial land or any interest therein.

• Marginal note:Order of Governor in Council

  (2) An order of the Governor in Council made under subsection (1) that relates to any interest as shareholder or otherwise in a corporation may apply

  • (a) to a particular interest in a particular corporation described in the order or to interests in a class or classes of corporations described therein; and

  • (b) where the order so specifies, to a particular interest or to interests acquired before the making of the order.

Marginal note:Offence and punishment

• 30 (1) Every person who contravenes any provision of this Act or any regulation for which no other punishment is provided is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

• Marginal note:Additional punishment

  (2) Every person who unlawfully cuts timber on territorial lands, in addition to any other punishment, is liable to a fine not exceeding five dollars in respect of each tree unlawfully cut.