First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act

An Act respecting the regulation of commercial and industrial undertakings on reserve lands Preamble WHEREAS first nations are planning commercial and industrial undertakings on reserve lands; WHEREAS effective regulatory regimes are required for the governance of such undertakings; WHEREAS first nations have requested the Government of Canada to provide for the establishment of such regimes to facilitate economic development on their lands; WHEREAS existing Acts of Parliament do not provide sufficient authority for Canada or first nations to establish such regimes; AND WHEREAS regulations in relation to a first nation’s reserve lands will be made under this Act only at the request of the first nation; NOW THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows: Short title This Act may be cited as the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act. Definitions The following definitions apply in this Act. first nation means a band as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Indian Act. (première nation) Minister means the Minister of Indigenous Services. (ministre) provincial body means a body established by the laws of a province. (organisme provincial) provincial official means a minister of the Crown in right of a province, a person employed by a province or a person appointed to, or employed by, a provincial body. (fonctionnaire provincial) reserve lands means lands within a reserve as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Indian Act. (terres de réserve) References to province In this Act, references to a province, in relation to reserve lands, are to the province in which the reserve lands are situated. Regulation-making power The Governor in Council may make regulations governing commercial or industrial undertakings that are located on reserve lands described in the regulations. Included powers Regulations made under subsection (1) may designate a particular undertaking or a class of undertakings to which the regulations apply; confer any legislative, administrative, judicial or other power on any person or body that the Governor in Council considers necessary to effectively regulate the undertakings; confer on any person or body the power, exercisable in circumstances and subject to conditions similar to those applicable to the exercise of that power outside reserve lands under laws of the province, to make orders to cease any work, comply with any provision of the regulations or remedy the consequences of a failure to comply with the regulations, or to do any work that the person or body considers necessary and to recover the costs of that work; fix, or prescribe the manner of calculating, the royalties or other charges to be paid to Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a first nation in respect of the exploitation of natural resources; fix, or prescribe the manner of calculating, the fees to be paid in respect of the undertakings to any person or body, and the rents or other charges to be paid to Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a first nation in respect of the use of the reserve lands; fix the rate of interest to be charged on amounts owing under the regulations; establish offences punishable on summary conviction for contraventions of the regulations, where similar acts or omissions constitute an offence under laws of the province applicable outside reserve lands, and set fines or terms of imprisonment or both for such offences not exceeding those applicable under laws of the province; establish administrative monetary penalties for contraventions of the regulations, where similar acts or omissions are punishable by similar penalties under laws of the province applicable outside reserve lands, and set the amount of those penalties not exceeding that imposed under laws of the province; confer on any person the power to inspect and search places and things and to seize and detain property, for the purpose of verifying compliance with the regulations, in circumstances and subject to conditions similar to those applicable to the exercise of that power under laws of the province applicable outside reserve lands; require that security be given or that a trust or other fund be established to secure the performance of any obligation arising under the regulations; prescribe rules respecting the confidentiality, or the disclosure, of any information obtained under the regulations; prescribe, or confer on any person or body the power to prescribe, rules of procedure for hearings to be held in relation to the undertakings, including rules for the issuance of subpoenas to require the appearance of persons and the production of documents and rules requiring that evidence be given under oath; set limits on the liability of, and establish defences and immunities for, any person or body exercising a power or performing a duty under the regulations; require that an assessment of the environmental effects of the undertakings be undertaken in circumstances where the Impact Assessment Act does not apply, and establish a procedure to be followed in such an assessment; with respect to reserve lands that have been designated for the purposes of an undertaking under subsection 38(2) of the Indian Act, authorize — to the extent permitted by the terms of the designation — the disposition by any person or body of any right or interest in those lands for the purposes of the undertaking, and specify the terms and conditions of such dispositions; exclude the reserve lands or the undertakings from the application of the Indian Oil and Gas Act; provide for the relationship between the regulations and aboriginal and treaty rights referred to in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, including limiting the extent to which the regulations may abrogate or derogate from those aboriginal and treaty rights; provide for the arbitration of disputes arising under the regulations; and provide for the disposition or destruction of documents, regardless of medium, that are created or submitted under the regulations. Incorporation by reference The regulations may incorporate by reference any laws of the province, as amended from time to time, with any adaptations that the Governor in Council considers necessary. Expanded meaning of undertaking The Governor in Council may make regulations enlarging the meaning of the expression “commercial or industrial undertaking” for the purposes of this Act. Regulations — land registration The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the establishment and operation of a system for the registration of interests and rights in reserve lands described in the regulations. Content of regulations Regulations made under subsection (1) may, despite any other Act of Parliament, establish priorities or, in Quebec, rankings among interests or rights that have been registered; establish a fund to compensate for losses in relation to interests or rights that have been registered or that should have been registered; for purposes of registration, deem Her Majesty’s or a first nation’s interest or rights in the reserve lands to constitute fee simple title to or, in Quebec, ownership of the lands; deem valid any surrender or designation of the reserve lands made or purported to be made under the Indian Act despite an assertion to the contrary by any person; confirm the legal capacity of a first nation to hold, transfer and register interests and rights in the reserve lands; authorize Her Majesty, without any new surrender or designation of reserve lands under the Indian Act by a first nation, to grant fee simple title to those lands to Herself or to the first nation or, in Quebec, confer ownership of those lands on Herself or on the first nation, for a purpose authorized under a surrender or designation made under that Act prior to the grant or conferral; authorize the Minister, for the purposes of registration, to certify that Her Majesty or any other person has an interest or right in the reserve lands; entitle the holders of registrable interests and rights in the reserve lands to apply for registration; provide for the registration, at the request of the Minister or a first nation, of registrable interests and rights of any person that existed at the time of the initial registration of the fee simple title or ownership or other interests or rights of Her Majesty or the first nation in the reserve lands; provide for the substitution by the Minister or a first nation, as the case may be, of registrable interests and rights in the reserve lands for non-registrable ones; provide for the extinguishment of any interests and rights that are not registered; provide for the manner of calculating the compensation, if any, to be paid by a first nation for any substitution or extinguishment referred to in paragraphs (j) and (k), and limit the time for claiming such compensation; and exclude the reserve lands from the application of sections 19, 21 and 55 of the Indian Act. Interests and rights not affected A grant or conferral under paragraph (2)(f) does not affect Her Majesty’s title to the reserve lands, or a first nation’s interest or rights in the reserve lands, as the case may be. Conditions for making regulations Regulations may not be made under section 3 or 4.1 in respect of reserve lands of a first nation unless the Minister has received a resolution of the council of the first nation requesting that the Minister recommend to the Governor in Council the making of those regulations; and if the regulations specify a provincial official by whom, or body by which, a power may be exercised or a duty must be performed, an agreement has been concluded between the Minister, the province and the council of the first nation for the administration and enforcement of the regulations by that official or body. Dispute resolution An agreement referred to in paragraph (1)(b) may provide for the arbitration, in accordance with the laws of the province, of disputes arising from the interpretation or application of that agreement, in which case the Commercial Arbitration Act does not apply to the dispute. Non-application Subsection (1) does not apply to the amendment or repeal of regulations made under section 3 or 4.1. Conflict with regulations under another Act Regulations made under any other Act of Parliament prevail over regulations made under section 3 to the extent of any conflict or inconsistency between them, unless otherwise provided in the regulations made under that section. Conflict with first nation laws or by-laws Regulations made under section 3 or 4.1 prevail over any laws or by-laws made by a first nation to the extent of any conflict or inconsistency between them, unless those regulations provide otherwise. Statutory Instruments Act The Statutory Instruments Act does not apply to any instruments made by a provincial official or body under authority of a provincial law incorporated by reference in regulations made under section 3 or 4.1. Federal Courts Act A provincial official or body that exercises a power or performs a duty under regulations made under section 3 or 4.1 is not a federal board, commission or other tribunal for the purposes of the Federal Courts Act. Review or appeal in provincial courts Unless otherwise provided by regulations made under section 3 or 4.1, where a power or duty is conferred or imposed by a provincial law that is incorporated by reference in the regulations, its exercise or performance pursuant to the regulations is subject to review by, or appeal to, the courts of the province in the same manner and to the same extent as if the provincial law applied of its own force. Amounts received Fees, charges, fines or other payments collected by a provincial official or body pursuant to regulations made under section 3 are not Indian moneys for the purposes of the Indian Act or public money for the purposes of the Financial Administration Act. Acts and omissions In respect of any act or omission occurring in the exercise of a power or the performance of a duty under regulations made under section 3 or 4.1, Her Majesty in right of Canada is entitled to the same limits on liability, defences and immunities as apply to Her Majesty in right of the province under the laws of the province; and the person or body exercising the power or performing the duty is entitled, unless otherwise provided by the regulations, to the same limits on liability, defences and immunities as those that would apply to a person or body exercising such a power or performing such a duty under the laws of the province. Right or interest in reserve lands No civil proceeding may be brought, no order may be made and no fine or monetary penalty may be imposed in relation to reserve lands against Her Majesty in right of Canada under regulations made under section 3 based on any right or interest retained by Her Majesty in those lands. Registration, substitution or extinguishment No civil proceeding may be brought against Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province, a federal or provincial official or body or a person acting on behalf of any of them, in relation to the registration of the title or ownership of Her Majesty or a first nation, or of any registrable interest or right referred to in paragraph 4.1(2)(i), or in relation to the substitution or extinguishment of any interest or right in reserve lands pursuant to regulations made under section 4.1. Order in council The provisions of this Act come into force on a day or days to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council. [Note: Act in force April 1, 2006, see SI/2006-57.]