SHORT TITLE

Marginal note:Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the First Nations Oil and Gas and Moneys Management Act.

INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION

Marginal note:Definitions

• 2. (1) The following definitions apply in this Act.

  “contract”

  « contrat »

  “contract” means a licence, permit or lease granting a surface or subsurface right or interest in land — or an instrument evidencing an easement, a right-of-way, a right of entry or any other disposition of a right or interest in land — that is granted, issued or made for the purposes of oil or gas exploration or exploitation.

  “decision-making authority”

  « autorité décisionnelle »

  “decision-making authority”, in relation to a project, means a person or body having power under section 34 or under a first nation’s oil and gas laws to make any decision that is required in order for the project to be undertaken.

  “environmental assessment”

  « évaluation environnementale »

  “environmental assessment”, in relation to a project in a managed area, means an assessment of the project’s effects on the environment conducted in one or more stages in accordance with a first nation’s oil and gas laws.

  “exploitation”

  « exploitation »

  “exploitation”, in relation to oil or gas, means its extraction, production, storage, distribution, processing or refining, or its use to generate electrical energy, to the extent that those activities relate to lands in a managed area.

  “exploration”

  « exploration »

  “exploration” includes surveying, mapping, test drilling and geological, geophysical and geochemical examinations carried out in pursuit of oil or gas.

  “financial institution”

  « institution financière »

  “financial institution” means a bank or a trust company.

  “first nation”

  « première nation »

  “first nation” means a band within the meaning of the Indian Act.

  “first nation member”

  « membre de la première nation »

  “first nation member” means a person whose name appears on the band list of a first nation or who is entitled to have their name appear on that list.

  “gas”

  « gaz »

  “gas” means natural gas that can be produced from a well, including natural gas from a coal bed, and includes marketable gas as well as condensate and other fluid components of natural gas that are not oil.

  “managed area”

  « secteur aménagé »

  “managed area” means a managed area as described in section 25.

  “Minister”

  « ministre »

  “Minister” means the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

  “oil”

  « pétrole »

  “oil” means any hydrocarbon that can be extracted or recovered in liquid form from surface or subsurface deposits, other than condensate, or that can be extracted or recovered from bitumen, bituminous sands, oil sands or oil shale.

  “oil and gas law”

  « texte pétrolier ou gazier »

  “oil and gas law” means a law made by a first nation under section 35.

  “oil and gas moneys”

  « recettes pétrolières ou gazières »

  “oil and gas moneys” means moneys derived from oil or gas exploration or exploitation within the managed area of a first nation after the first nation’s transfer date, and includes fines recovered for offences under oil and gas laws.

  “project”

  « projet »

  “project” means

  • (a) any proposed construction, operation, modification, decommissioning or abandonment of an installation used for oil or gas exploration or exploitation, or any other proposed undertaking in relation to such an installation; or

  • (b) any proposed exploration activity of a kind that is defined, by the regulations or by a first nation’s oil and gas laws, as a project for the purposes of environmental assessments.

  “transfer date”

  « date de transfert »

  “transfer date”, in relation to a first nation, means the date on which the first nation’s name is added to Schedule 1 under subsection 22(1).

  “trust company”

  « société de fiducie »

  “trust company” means a trust company under subsection 57(2) of the Trust and Loan Companies Act, or a company incorporated by or under a provincial Act that carries on the business of a trust company, that is a member institution within the meaning of section 2 of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Act.

• Marginal note:Expressions in Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

  (2) In this Act, “environment” and “environmental effect” have the same meaning as in the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

• Marginal note:Expressions in Indian Act

  (3) Unless the context otherwise requires, words and expressions used in this Act have the same meaning as in the Indian Act.

Marginal note:For greater certainty

3. For greater certainty,

• (a) Her Majesty’s title to lands in a managed area is not affected by this Act;

• (b) lands in a managed area continue to be set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of the first nation for which they were set apart;

• (c) lands in a managed area continue to be lands reserved for the Indians within the meaning of Class 24 of section 91 of the Constitution Act, 1867;

• (d) this Act does not affect the ability of a first nation to participate in and benefit from any federal government program; and

• (e) nothing in this Act shall be construed so as to abrogate or derogate from the protection provided for existing aboriginal or treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada by the recognition and affirmation of those rights in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

Marginal note:Territorial lands

4. This Act does not apply in respect of reserve lands in Yukon or in respect of frontier lands within the meaning of the Canada Petroleum Resources Act.

Marginal note:Individual moneys

5. This Act does not apply in respect of moneys collected, received or held by Her Majesty in right of Canada under the Indian Act for the use and benefit of an individual.

REQUESTS FOR TRANSFER

Marginal note:Council resolution — oil and gas

6. The council of a first nation may submit to the Minister a written resolution of the council requesting the transfer to the first nation of the management and regulation of oil and gas exploration and exploitation in its reserve lands.

Marginal note:Council resolution — moneys

7. The council of a first nation may submit to the Minister a written resolution of the council requesting the payment to the first nation of

• (a) moneys held by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of the first nation; and

• (b) moneys to be collected or received in future by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of the first nation.

Marginal note:Information from Minister — oil and gas

• 8. (1) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), following receipt of a resolution under section 6, the Minister shall provide to the first nation, if the first nation does not already possess them,

  • (a) copies of all contracts issued in respect of the first nation’s reserve lands that are in force and of any documents evidencing designations of those lands under the Indian Act;

  • (b) copies of any documents in the Minister’s possession respecting contracts referred to in paragraph (a) that relate to periods after the issuance of those contracts;

  • (c) particulars of all moneys payable under contracts referred to in paragraph (a); and

  • (d) any documents in the Minister’s possession with respect to contaminated sites on the first nation’s reserve.

• Marginal note:Timetable for providing information

  (2) Following receipt of a resolution under section 6, the Minister shall provide the first nation with a timetable for delivery of the documents and information referred to in subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Exclusion of confidential information

  (3) The Minister shall not provide information that is subject to solicitor-client privilege or is otherwise privileged at law.

• Marginal note:Exclusion of confidential information

  (4) The Minister is not required to provide information that may, or must, be withheld under any federal law.

• Marginal note:Restriction

  (5) Subsection (4) does not apply in respect of information provided to the Minister by a contract holder.

Marginal note:Information from Minister — moneys

9. Following receipt of a resolution under section 7, the Minister shall inform the first nation of the amount of the moneys held by Her Majesty for the first nation at the time of the receipt of the request and of the outstanding amount of any loans referred to in subsection 30(2).

REQUIREMENTS FOR TRANSFER

Marginal note:Oil and gas code

• 10. (1) Before a vote is conducted on a transfer requested under section 6, a first nation shall prepare an oil and gas code that

  • (a) prescribes the procedure to be followed by the council of the first nation in the making, amendment and publication of oil and gas laws;

  • (b) provides for the accountability of the council to first nation members for the management and regulation of oil and gas exploration and exploitation;

  • (c) establishes procedures for disclosing and addressing conflicts of interest of members of the council and employees of the first nation in the management and regulation of oil and gas exploration and exploitation;

  • (d) if the first nation shares a reserve with another first nation, provides for the coordination of the management and regulation of oil and gas exploration and exploitation by the two first nations; and

  • (e) provides for the amendment of the code by the first nation.

• Marginal note:Financial code for oil and gas moneys

  (2) Before a vote is conducted on a transfer requested under section 6, a first nation shall prepare a financial code that

  • (a) specifies the mode of holding oil and gas moneys, either by their deposit in an account with a financial institution or their payment to a trust of which the first nation is settlor and sole beneficiary, and prescribing the conditions governing subsequent changes from one mode to the other;

  • (b) provides for the manner of collecting oil and gas moneys and the manner of expending moneys held in the account or received by the first nation from the trust;

  • (c) provides for the accountability of the council to first nation members for the management of oil and gas moneys;

  • (d) establishes procedures for disclosing and addressing conflicts of interest of members of the council and employees of the first nation in the expenditure of those moneys; and

  • (e) provides for the amendment of the code by the first nation.

Marginal note:Financial code for moneys received from Canada

11. Before a vote is conducted on a payment requested under section 7, a first nation shall prepare a financial code

• (a) specifying the mode of holding moneys paid by Her Majesty to the first nation under sections 30 and 31 by their deposit in an account with a financial institution or payment to a trust of which the first nation is settlor and sole beneficiary, and prescribing the conditions governing future changes from one mode to the other;

• (b) respecting the manner of expending moneys held by the first nation in the account or received by it from the trust;

• (c) respecting the accountability of the council of the first nation to first nation members for the expenditure of those moneys;

• (d) establishing procedures for disclosing and addressing conflicts of interest of members of the council and employees of the first nation in the expenditure of those moneys; and

• (e) providing for the amendment of the code by the first nation.

Marginal note:Law of trusts

• 12. (1) Laws of general application in relation to trusts and trustees in force in the province in which the trust instrument is executed apply in respect of a trust established for the purposes of this Act except to the extent that those laws conflict with this Act.

• Marginal note:Rules against perpetuities and accumulations

  (2) A trust established for the purposes of this Act is exempt from the application of any rule of common law that limits the period within which a beneficial interest must vest or the period during which income may be accumulated.

Marginal note:Councillors as trustees

• 13. (1) A member of the council of a first nation may not be made a trustee ex officio of a trust established for the purposes of this Act.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) Subsection (1) does not preclude a member of a council from serving as a trustee in the member’s personal capacity.

Marginal note:Security required of trustees

14. Every trustee of a trust established for the purposes of this Act other than a trust company shall, before moneys are paid into a trust referred to in section 10 or 11, and at any other time when the council so requests, provide to the council of the first nation

• (a) evidence of bonding, insurance or other form of security, in an amount equal to the amount held in the trust, for the recovery of any loss occasioned by theft or by breach of the conditions of the trust; and

• (b) evidence that the trustee fulfils the requirements of provincial law, if any, as to the minimum financial worth of trustees generally.

Marginal note:Oil and gas transfer agreement

15. After a first nation has prepared the codes referred to in section 10, the Minister and the first nation may conclude a transfer agreement setting out arrangements for the transfer to the first nation of the management and regulation of oil and gas.

Marginal note:Moneys payment agreement

16. After a first nation has prepared the codes referred to in section 11, the Minister and the first nation may conclude a payment agreement setting out arrangements for the payment of moneys to the first nation.

APPROVAL PROCEDURE

Marginal note:Approval of transfer

17. After a transfer agreement has been concluded under section 15, the first nation may conduct a vote among its eligible voters, in accordance with the regulations, on the ratification of the oil and gas code and the financial code referred to in section 10 and the approval of the transfer to the first nation of the management and regulation of oil and gas exploration and exploitation.

Marginal note:Approval of payment

18. After a payment agreement has been concluded under section 16, the first nation may conduct a vote among its eligible voters, in accordance with the regulations, on the ratification of the financial code referred to in section 11 and the approval of the payment of moneys to the first nation in accordance with the code.

Marginal note:Combined vote on oil, gas and moneys

19. If agreements have been concluded under both sections 15 and 16, a single vote may be conducted for the purposes of sections 17 and 18.

Marginal note:Eligibility to vote

• 20. (1) Subject to subsection (2), a first nation member, whether resident on the reserve or not, is an eligible voter if the member’s name appears on the band list and the member has reached the age of eighteen years on the date of the vote.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) In the case of a first nation that is not the subject of an order made under section 74 of the Indian Act, a first nation member, whether resident on the reserve or not, is an eligible voter if the member’s name appears on the band list and the member has, on the date of the vote, reached the eligible age for participation in the selection of the first nation’s council according to the custom of the first nation.