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Bill C-51

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OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENT

Principal offences

88. (1) Any person who contravenes subsection 10(1) or section 11, or fails to comply with subsection 10(3) or with a direction given by an inspector pursuant to subsection 85(1), is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both.

Type A licensees

(2) A licensee holding a type A licence who

    (a) contravenes any condition of the li cence, where the contravention does not constitute an offence under section 89, or

    (b) fails, without reasonable excuse, to furnish or maintain security as required pursuant to subsection 74(1)

is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both.

Type B licensees

(3) A licensee holding a type B licence who

    (a) contravenes any condition of the li cence, where the contravention does not constitute an offence under section 89, or

    (b) fails, without reasonable excuse, to furnish or maintain security as required pursuant to subsection 74(1)

is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $15,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both.

Continuing offences

(4) Where an offence under this section is committed on or continued for more than one day, it is deemed to be a separate offence for each day on which it is committed or continued.

Other offences

89. Any person is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction who

    (a) contravenes any regulations made pur suant to paragraph 80(1)(o), (p) or (q), subsection 84(4) or section 86; or

    (b) wilfully obstructs or otherwise inter feres with a licensee or any person acting on behalf of a licensee in the exercise of the licensee's rights under this Act, except as authorized under this or any other Act of Parliament.

Limitation period

90. Proceedings in respect of an offence under this Act may not be instituted later than two years after the time when the subject-matter of the proceedings arose.

Action to enjoin not prejudiced by prosecution

91. (1) Notwithstanding that a prosecution has been instituted in respect of an offence under section 88, the Attorney General of Canada may commence and maintain proceedings to enjoin conduct that constitutes an offence under that section.

Civil remedy not affected

(2) No civil remedy for any act or omission is affected because the act or omission is an offence under this Act.

Certificate of analyst

92. (1) Subject to this section, a certificate purporting to be signed by an analyst, stating that the analyst has analysed or examined a sample submitted by an inspector and giving the results of the analysis or examination,

    (a) is admissible in evidence in any pro secution under this Act; and

    (b) in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is proof of its contents without proof of the signature or the official charac ter of the signatory.

Attendance of analyst

(2) A party against whom a certificate of an analyst is produced pursuant to subsection (1) may, with leave of the court, require the attendance of the analyst for the purposes of cross-examination.

Notice

(3) No certificate shall be admitted in evidence pursuant to subsection (1) unless the party intending to produce it has given to the party against whom it is intended to be produced reasonable notice of that intention, together with a copy of the certificate.

TRANSITIONAL AND AMENDMENTS

Transitional

Continuation of Nunavut Water Board

93. (1) The Board established by section 13 and the Nunavut Water Board established under the Agreement before the coming into force of this Act are hereby declared for all purposes to be one and the same body.

Validity

(2) Any act of the Board taken, or any decision made by it pursuant to the Agreement, before the day on which this Act comes into force is deemed, to the extent that the act or decision would have been valid under this Act, to have been validly taken or made under this Act.

Licences

94. (1) Licences for the use of waters or the deposit of waste in Nunavut that were in force under the Northwest Territories Waters Act immediately before the coming into force of this Act continue in force as if they had been issued by the Board pursuant to this Act, and are deemed to have been issued by the Board pursuant to this Act.

Pending applications

(2) The Board shall dispose of any application for a licence in relation to a use of waters or a deposit of waste to which this Act applies that was made to the Northwest Territories Water Board and is pending on the earlier of the day on which the Nunavut Water Board is established under the Agreement and the day on which this Act comes into force.

Exception

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), the Northwest Territories Water Board shall dispose of any application in respect of which a hearing had commenced before the day determined under that subsection, and where the Northwest Territories Water Board issues a licence pursuant to such an application that licence is deemed to have been issued by the Board pursuant to this Act.

Existing regulations

95. (1) Until they have been replaced or repealed pursuant to this Act, the regulations and orders made under sections 33 and 34 of the Northwest Territories Waters Act that are in force on the coming into force of this Act are binding on the Board and continue to apply in Nunavut, except in a national park, and the Board shall exercise the powers of the Northwest Territories Water Board under those regulations and orders in relation to Nunavut.

Instream use

(2) For the purposes of this Act, the regulations made pursuant to paragraph 33(1)(m) of the Northwest Territories Waters Act are deemed to authorize the unlicensed instream use of waters in Nunavut, except in a national park.

Powers of Board

(3) During the period of one year following the coming into force of this Act, the Board may, by order, provide that any provision of the regulations made pursuant to paragraph 33(1)(m) or (n) of the Northwest Territories Waters Act ceases to apply in relation to Nunavut.

Applications not requiring public hearings

96. (1) For the purposes of this Act, the regulations made pursuant to paragraph 33(1)(c) of the Northwest Territories Waters Act are deemed to prescribe, as classes of applications that do not require a public hearing, the classes of applications in relation to the following:

    (a) in the case of a Type A licence,

      (i) any amendment that does not affect the use, flow or quality of waters or alter the term of the licence,

      (ii) any amendment that affects the use, flow or quality of waters or alters the term of the licence, where the Board, with the consent of the federal Minister, is of the opinion that an emergency exists that requires the amendment, or

      (iii) one or several renewals of a total duration not exceeding sixty days; and

    (b) in the case of a Type B licence, its issuance, amendment, renewal or can cellation.

Consultation

(2) Within one year after the coming into force of this Act, the federal Minister shall, unless regulations have been made pursuant to paragraph 80(1)(f) before that time, consult the Board on the application of subsection (1).

Amendments to this Act

97. On the day on which section 3 of the Nunavut Act comes into force,

    (a) the definition ``Nunavut'' in subsec tion 2(1) is repealed;

    (b) paragraph 13(3)(b) is replaced by the following:

    (b) one quarter of the members shall be appointed on the nomination of

      (i) the territorial Minister responsible for renewable resources, and

      (ii) the territorial Minister or Ministers designated, by an instrument of the Executive Council of Nunavut , for the purposes of this paragraph.

    (c) subsection 40(1) of the English version is replaced by the following:

Marine areas

40. (1) The Board may, either jointly with the Nunavut Planning Commission and the Nunavut Impact Review Board, acting as the Nunavut Marine Council referred to in section 15.4.1 of the Agreement, or on its own, advise and make recommendations respecting any marine area to any department or agency of the Government of Canada or the Government of Nunavut , and those governments shall consider that advice and those recommendations when making any decision that may affect that marine area.

    (d) paragraphs 59(1)(a) to (e) are re placed by the following:

    (a) used waters for a domestic purpose in the Northwest Territories or in Nunavut ;

    (b) held a licence under this Act or the Northwest Territories Waters Act to deposit waste in the Northwest Territories or in Nunavut ;

    (c) was, as authorized by the regulations, using waters or depositing waste without a licence in the Northwest Territories or in Nunavut ;

    (d) was an owner or an occupier of land, except Inuit-owned land, in the Northwest Territories or in Nunavut ; or

    (e) was a holder of an outfitting concession, a registered trapline or other rights of a similar nature in the Northwest Territories or in Nunavut .

Amendments to Other Acts

R.S., c. A-1

Access to Information Act

98. Schedule I to the Access to Information Act is amended by adding, in alphabetical order under the heading ``Other Government Institutions'', the following:

Nunavut Water Board

    Office des eaux du Nunavut

R.S., c. A-12

Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act

1992, c. 40, s. 49

99. The definition ``analyst'' in section 2 of the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act is replaced by the following:

``analyst''
« analyste »

``analyst'' means a person designated as an analyst pursuant to the Canada Water Act, the Yukon Waters Act, the Northwest Territories Waters Act or the Nunavut Waters Act ;

1988, c. 12

Northern Canada Power Commission (Share Issuance and Sale Authorization) Act

1992, c. 39, s. 49(1)

100. Section 12 of the Northern Canada Power Commission (Share Issuance and Sale Authorization) Act is replaced by the following:

Exemption from fees

12. The Minister may, with the approval of the Governor in Council, make an order exempting the Corporation from the requirement to pay fees for the right to use waters or deposit waste pursuant to a licence under the Northwest Territories Waters Act or the Nunavut Waters Act .

1992, c. 39

Northwest Territories Waters Act

101. (1) The definition ``usager particulier'' in section 2 of the French version of the Northwest Territories Waters Act is repealed.

(2) The definition ``territorial lands'' in section 2 of the Act is replaced by the following:

``territorial lands''
« terres territoria-
les
»

``territorial lands'' means lands in the Northwest Territories, except lands in Nunavut , that are vested in Her Majesty in right of Canada or of which the Government of Canada has power to dispose;

(3) Section 2 of the Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

``Nunavut''
« Nunavut »

``Nunavut'' means the territory described in section 3 of the Nunavut Act.

(4) Section 2 of the French version of the Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

« usager ordinaire »
``instream user''

« usager ordinaire » La personne qui utilise les eaux pour subvenir à ses besoins ou se constituer un revenu, sans toutefois les détourner, les obstruer ni modifier leur cours, leurs rives ou leur lit.

102. Section 7 of the Act is replaced by the following:

Agreement with province or territory

7. With the approval of the Governor in Council and subject to any agreement entered into pursuant to 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 or territorial government providing for the management of any waters situated partially in the Northwest Territories, excluding Nunavut and partially in a province or in the Yukon Territory, or flowing between the Northwest Territories, excluding Nunavut , and a province or the Yukon Territory.

103. (1) The portion of subsection 8(1) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

Use of waters

8. (1) Except as authorized pursuant to the Dominion Water Power Act, and subject to subsection (2), no person shall use, or permit the use of, waters in a water management area outside Nunavut except

(2) Paragraph 8(2)(b) of the French version of the Act is replaced by the following:

    b) par un usager ordinaire ;

104. Paragraphs 9(1)(a) and (b) of the Act are replaced by the following:

(a) in any waters in a water management area outside Nunavut ; or

    (b) in any other place in a water manage ment area outside Nunavut under condi tions in which the waste, or any other waste that results from the deposit of that waste, may enter those waters.

105. Section 12 of the Act is replaced by the following:

Objects

12. The objects of the Board are to provide for the conservation, development and utilization of waters in a manner that will provide the optimum benefit for all Canadians and, in particular, for the residents of the Northwest Territories outside Nunavut .

106. Subparagraph 14(4)(b)(iii) of the French version of the Act is replaced by the following:

      (iii) des usagers ordinaires ,

107. Paragraph 15(2)(c) of the French version of the Act is replaced by the following:

    c) les usagers ordinaires ;

108. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 15:

Inuit-owned land

15.1 (1) The Board shall not issue a licence in respect of a use of waters or a deposit of waste that may substantially alter the quality, quantity or flow of waters flowing through Inuit-owned land, unless

    (a) the applicant has entered into an agree ment with the designated Inuit organization to pay compensation for any loss or damage that may be caused by the alteration; or