Vol. 142, No. 16 — August 6, 2008

Registration

SOR/2008-240 July 28, 2008

TERRITORIAL LANDS ACT

Regulations Amending the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Mining Regulations

P.C. 2008-1352 July 28, 2008

Whereas, pursuant to paragraph 24(b) of the Territorial Lands Act, a copy of the proposed Regulations Amending the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Mining Regulations, substantially in the annexed form, was published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on February 16, 2008 and a reasonable opportunity was thereby afforded to interested persons to make representations to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development with respect to the proposed Regulations;

Therefore, Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, pursuant to section 12 and paragraph 23(j) of the Territorial Lands Act, hereby makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Mining Regulations.

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES AND NUNAVUT MINING REGULATIONS

AMENDMENT

1. Section 11 of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Mining Regulations (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:

11. (1) No person shall prospect for minerals or stake a claim on lands

(a) that are used as a cemetery;

(b) that are subject to a recorded claim or lease;

(c) that are subject to a prospecting permit, unless the person is the holder of the permit or is acting on behalf of the holder;

(d) for which the minerals are subject to a grant by Her Majesty;

(e) that have been withdrawn from disposal or set apart and appropriated by the Governor in Council under paragraphs 23(a) to (e) of the Act;

(f) that are subject to a prohibition on prospecting or staking a claim under a land use plan that has been approved under federal legislation or a land claim agreement; or

(g) the surface of which is subject to a grant or lease by Her Majesty, unless the owner of those lands or the holder of the lease has consented to the prospecting or staking or an order authorizing entry on those lands has been made under subsection 72(3).

(2) Despite paragraph (1)(b,) the holder of a recorded claim or a lease, or a person acting on their behalf, may prospect on lands subject to that recorded claim or lease.

COMING INTO FORCE

2. These Regulations come into force on the date on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT
ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issue and objectives

Under the current Northwest Territories and Nunavut Mining Regulations (NTNMR), there is nothing to prevent a prospector from prospecting and staking a mineral claim on lands which are subject to a prohibition on prospecting and staking under an approved land use plan. The objective of these Regulations is to protect those lands from prospecting and staking by amending section 11 of the NTNMR in order to prohibit these activities on lands subject to such a prohibition under an approved land use plan.

Description and rationale

The administration of Crown lands including minerals for the Northwest Territories and Nunavut is done through the Territorial Lands Act (TLA) and its Regulations. The Regulations under the TLA that deal with mineral tenure, leasing and royalties are the NTNMR, formerly known as the Canada Mining Regulations (CMR). Under the current NTNMR, a party may prospect for minerals and stake mineral claims on any Crown lands covered under the TLA—including lands in and around the area of the Mackenzie Valley—unless prospecting or staking on such lands is prohibited under section 11 of the NTNMR.

The Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act (MVRMA), which deals with environmental assessment and land management in the Mackenzie Valley region, contains a provision that states that no regulatory authority can authorize the use of land or water, unless such authorization is in accordance with an applicable land use plan. This provision was included in the MVRMA in order to be consistent with similar provisions of the Gwich’in, Sahtu, Dene and Metis land claims agreements.

Currently, section 11 of the NTNMR does not contain a reference to lands covered by land use plans set up under the MVRMA. Therefore, lands where prospecting and staking have been prohibited under a land use plan are still eligible for prospecting and staking under the NTNMR. The Regulations rectify this by amending section 11 to include lands where prospecting and staking are prohibited under a land use plan.

This discrepancy came to light as a part of the final review of the draft Gwich’in Land Use Plan (the GLUP) conducted in 2001-2002. At that time, it was identified that the CMR may be incompatible with the GLUP’s designation of areas where mineral exploration and development requiring a permit are prohibited. To avoid delaying the approval of the GLUP, the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development agreed to a five-year interim withdrawal of the lands designated as Gwich’in Conservation Zones and Gwich’in Heritage Conservation Zones in the GLUP. The above interim land withdrawal was terminated January 31st, 2008 and was replaced by another interim land withdrawal extending the term for an additional three years, commencing January 31st, 2008. The land withdrawal is an interim measure designed to give the Government of Canada time to develop the amendments to the NTNMR, which will remove any perceived conflicts between the NTNMR and the GLUP.

Consultation

The proposed amendments to section 11 have been forwarded to all First Nations, Inuit and Metis working on or having a land use plan. All Aboriginal groups and stakeholders were consulted in 2002, 2003 and 2005 on all amendments proposed to the NTNMR. Section 11 formed part of those consultations. The Gwich’in Land Use Planning Board is aware of the work that is being done and has offered suggestions. This proposal was pre-published in Part I of the Canada Gazette on February 16, 2008 for a consultation period of 30 days. No comments were received from Aboriginal groups and stakeholders.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

Since mining activities on those lands are going to be prohibited by legislation, anyone committing an offence or not complying with the requirements of the TLA and its Regulations will be charged under the TLA.

Contact

Dominique Quirion
Head
Mining Legislation
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
25 Eddy St, 10th Floor
Gatineau, Quebec
K1A 0H4
Telephone: 819-997-0912
Fax: 819-953-9066
Email: quiriond@inac.gc.ca

Footnote 1
 C.R.C., c. 1516

NOTICE:
The format of the electronic version of this issue of the Canada Gazette was modified in order to be compatible with extensible hypertext markup language (XHTML 1.0 Strict).