Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Act (S.C. 2019, c. 29, s. 337)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

2 The following definitions apply in this Act.

Department

Department means the department established under section 3. (ministère)

Indigenous governing body

Indigenous governing body means a council, government or other entity that is authorized to act on behalf of an Indigenous group, community or people that holds rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. (corps dirigeant autochtone)

Indigenous organization

Indigenous organization means an Indigenous governing body or any other entity that represents the interests of an Indigenous group and its members. (organisation autochtone)

Indigenous peoples

Indigenous peoples has the meaning assigned by the definition aboriginal peoples of Canada in subsection 35(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982. (peuples autochtones)

Minister

Minister means the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. (ministre)

Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs

Establishment of Department

Marginal note:Department established

3 There is established a department of the Government of Canada, called the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs, over which the Minister presides.

Marginal note:Minister

4 The Minister, appointed by commission under the Great Seal, holds office during pleasure and has the management and direction of the Department.

Marginal note:Deputy Minister

• 5 (1) The Governor in Council may appoint a Deputy Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations to hold office during pleasure and to be the deputy head of the Department.

• Marginal note:Associate Deputy Minister

  (2) The Governor in Council may appoint an Associate Deputy Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations to hold office during pleasure and, under the Deputy Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions — as a deputy of the Minister or otherwise — that the Minister may specify.

Powers, Duties and Functions of Minister

Marginal note:Powers, duties and functions

6 The Minister’s powers, duties and functions extend to and include all matters over which Parliament has jurisdiction — and that are not by law assigned to any other department, board or agency of the Government of Canada — relating to relations with Indigenous peoples.

Marginal note:Responsibilities

7 The Minister is responsible for

• (a) exercising leadership within the Government of Canada in relation to the affirmation and implementation of the rights of Indigenous peoples recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 and the implementation of treaties and other agreements with Indigenous peoples;

• (b) negotiating treaties and other agreements to advance the self-determination of Indigenous peoples; and

• (c) advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, in collaboration with Indigenous peoples and through renewed nation-to-nation, government-to-government and Inuit-Crown relationships.

Marginal note:Provision of services between departments

8 The Department may provide services to and receive services from the Department of Indigenous Services — including services to support policy and program implementation — as provided in a written agreement between the Minister or the Minister of Northern Affairs, as the case may be, and the Minister of Indigenous Services.

Marginal note:Delegation

9 The Minister may delegate any of his or her powers, duties and functions under this Act or any other Act of Parliament, except the power to delegate under this section, to the Minister of Indigenous Services, for any period and under any terms that the Minister considers suitable.

Marginal note:Annual report to Parliament

10 The Minister must cause to be tabled in each House of Parliament, within three months after the end of the fiscal year or, if the House is not then sitting, on any of the first 15 days of the next sitting of the House, a report on the measures taken to advance the self-determination of Indigenous peoples and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

Minister of Northern Affairs

Marginal note:Appointment

• 11 (1) A Minister of Northern Affairs may be appointed by commission under the Great Seal to hold office during pleasure.

• Marginal note:If no Minister of Northern Affairs appointed

  (2) If no Minister of Northern Affairs is appointed under subsection (1),

  • (a) the Minister is to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the Minister of Northern Affairs; and

  • (b) every reference to the Minister of Northern Affairs in any Act of Parliament or in any order, regulation or other instrument made under an Act of Parliament is to be read as a reference to the Minister, unless the context otherwise requires.

Marginal note:Deputy Minister of Northern Affairs

• 12 (1) The Governor in Council may designate the Associate Deputy Minister appointed under subsection 5(2) to be Deputy Minister of Northern Affairs and, under the Minister of Northern Affairs, to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions — as a deputy of the Minister of Northern Affairs or otherwise — that the Minister of Northern Affairs may specify.

• Marginal note:If no Deputy Minister of Northern Affairs designated

  (2) If no Deputy Minister of Northern Affairs is designated under subsection (1),

  • (a) the Deputy Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations is to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the Deputy Minister of Northern Affairs; and

  • (b) every reference to the Deputy Minister of Northern Affairs in any Act of Parliament or in any order, regulation or other instrument made under an Act of Parliament is to be read as a reference to the Deputy Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, unless the context otherwise requires.

Marginal note:Powers, duties and functions

13 The powers, duties and functions of the Minister of Northern Affairs extend to and include all matters over which Parliament has jurisdiction — and that are not by law assigned to any other department, board or agency of the Government of Canada — relating

• (a) to Yukon, to the Northwest Territories or to Nunavut and its resources and affairs; and

• (b) to policies, directives and programs with respect to the Canadian North.

Marginal note:Coordination, policies and scientific research

14 The Minister of Northern Affairs is to

• (a) coordinate the activities of the departments, boards and agencies of the Government of Canada in the territories;

• (b) develop and implement policies and programs to promote the social, economic and political development of the territories; and

• (c) foster, through scientific research and technology, knowledge of the Canadian North and the taking of various measures to support its development.

Marginal note:Administration of lands — Nunavut

• 15 (1) The Minister of Northern Affairs has the administration of lands situated in Nunavut belonging to Her Majesty in right of Canada except those lands that are under

  • (a) the administration of any other minister of the Government of Canada or any agent corporation as defined in subsection 83(1) of the Financial Administration Act; or

  • (b) the administration and control of the Commissioner of Nunavut under the Nunavut Act.

• Marginal note:Yukon and Northwest Territories

  (2) The Minister of Northern Affairs has the administration of public real property as defined in section 2 of the Yukon Act — and public lands as defined in section 2 of the Northwest Territories Act — except that public real property or those public lands, as the case may be, that are under

  • (a) the administration of any other minister of the Government of Canada or any agent corporation as defined in subsection 83(1) of the Financial Administration Act; or

  • (b) the administration and control of the Commissioner of Yukon or the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, as the case may be, under the applicable Act.

Marginal note:Use of departmental services and facilities

16 The Minister of Northern Affairs is to make use of the services and facilities of the Department.

Marginal note:Transfer of responsibility

17 The Minister of Northern Affairs may enter into an agreement with the government of a territory with respect to the transfer of responsibilities to the territory.

Marginal note:Delegation

18 The Minister of Northern Affairs may delegate any of his or her powers, duties and functions under this Act or any other Act of Parliament, except the power to delegate under this section, to any officer of the Department or the Minister of Indigenous Services, for any period and under any terms that the Minister of Northern Affairs considers suitable.

Provisions Applicable to Both Ministers

Marginal note:Special representatives

• 19 (1) The Minister or the Minister of Northern Affairs, as the case may be, may appoint special representatives to provide him or her with advice on any matter relating to his or her powers, duties and functions under this Act or to any other matter relating to this Act, or to represent him or her in the context of, among other things, any consultation or engagement with an Indigenous organization or Indigenous group, community or people with respect to such a matter.

• Marginal note:Committees

  (2) The Minister or the Minister of Northern Affairs, as the case may be, may also establish advisory and other committees to provide him or her with advice on any matter referred to in subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Remuneration and expenses

  (3) The Minister or the Minister of Northern Affairs, as the case may be, is to fix the remuneration and expenses to be paid to special representatives and to committee members.

Marginal note:Collection and use of information

• 20 (1) The Minister or the Minister of Northern Affairs, as the case may be, may, in exercising his or her powers and performing his or her duties or functions under this Act, collect, analyze and interpret documents, information or data in respect of matters under his or her administration.

• Marginal note:Disclosure of information

  (2) The Minister or the Minister of Northern Affairs, as the case may be, may, in exercising his or her powers and performing his or her duties or functions under this Act, disclose or permit to be disclosed, in whole or in part, those documents and that information or data to, among others,

  • (a) the Department of Indigenous Services;

  • (b) a department named in Schedule I to the Financial Administration Act, a division or branch of the federal public administration set out in column I of Schedule I.1 to that Act, a corporation named in Schedule II to that Act or a Crown corporation as defined in subsection 83(1) of that Act;

  • (c) an Indigenous organization; or

  • (d) a not-for-profit entity controlled by Indigenous individuals.

• Marginal note:Exceptions related to disclosure

  (3) Paragraphs (2)(c) and (d) do not apply in respect of any information, or to any documents or data that would reveal any information,

  • (a) that is personal information as defined in section 3 of the Privacy Act, unless

    • (i) the personal information is publicly available,

    • (ii) the individual to whom the personal information relates consents to its disclosure, or

    • (iii) the disclosure is for a purpose referred to in any of paragraphs 8(2)(a), (b), (f), (j), (k) or (m) of the Privacy Act;

  • (b) that is protected by solicitor-client privilege or professional secrecy of advocates and notaries or by litigation privilege;

  • (c) the disclosure of which is restricted under any provision of any other Act of Parliament set out in Schedule II to the Access to Information Act; or

  • (d) that is a confidence of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada as defined in subsection 39(2) of the Canada Evidence Act.