Canada National Parks Act (S.C. 2000, c. 32)

Marginal note:Compensation for loss of property

• 31 (1) If a person has been convicted of an offence under this Act, the court may, at the time sentence is imposed and on the application of the person aggrieved, order the offender to pay to the aggrieved person an amount by way of satisfaction or compensation for loss of or damage to property suffered by that person as a result of the commission of the offence.

• Marginal note:Enforcement

  (2) If the amount ordered to be paid under subsection (1) is not paid without delay, the aggrieved person may, by filing the order, enter as a judgment, in the superior court of the province in which the trial was held, the amount ordered to be paid, and that judgment is enforceable against the offender in the same manner as if it were a judgment rendered against the offender in that court in civil proceedings.

Marginal note:Compensation for cost of remedial or preventive action

• 31.01 (1) A court shall not, under paragraph 30(1)(c), order a person to compensate another person for the cost of any remedial or preventive action referred to in that paragraph if the other person is entitled to make a claim for compensation for that cost under the Marine Liability Act or the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act.

• Marginal note:Compensation for loss or damage — property

  (2) A court shall not, under subsection 31(1), order a person to pay to another person an amount by way of satisfaction or compensation for loss of or damage to property if the other person is entitled to make a claim for compensation for that loss or damage under the Marine Liability Act or the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act.

Marginal note:Limitation period

31.1 No proceedings by way of summary conviction in respect of an offence under this Act may be instituted more than five years after the day on which the subject matter of the proceedings arose, unless the prosecutor and the defendant agree that they may be instituted after the five years.

Marginal note:Contraventions Act

31.2 If an offence under this Act is designated as a contravention under the Contraventions Act, subsection 8(5) of that Act does not apply in respect of the fine that may be established for that contravention.

Marginal note:Publication of information about contraventions

• 31.3 (1) For the purpose of encouraging compliance with this Act and the regulations, the Minister shall maintain, in a registry accessible to the public, information about all convictions of corporations for offences under this Act.

• Marginal note:Retention

  (2) Information in the registry is to be maintained for a minimum of five years.

Marginal note:Review

• 31.4 (1) The Minister shall, 10 years after the day on which this section comes into force and every 10 years after that, undertake a review of sections 24 to 31.3.

• Marginal note:Report to Parliament

  (2) The Minister shall, no later than one year after the day on which the review is undertaken, cause a report on the review to be tabled in each House of Parliament.

Mitigation of Environmental Damage

Marginal note:Pollution clean-up

• 32 (1) Where a substance that is capable of degrading the natural environment, injuring fauna, flora or cultural resources or endangering human health is discharged or deposited in a park, any person who has charge, management or control of the substance shall take reasonable measures to prevent any degradation of the natural environment and any danger to the fauna, flora or cultural resources or to persons that may result from the discharge or deposit.

• Marginal note:Powers of superintendent and Minister

  (2) If the superintendent of a park is of the opinion that a person is not taking the measures required by subsection (1), the superintendent may direct the person to take those measures and, if the person fails to do so, the Minister may direct those measures to be taken on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada.

• Marginal note:Expenses of clean-up

  (3) A person who fails to comply with a direction given by a superintendent under subsection (2) is liable for the expenses reasonably incurred by Her Majesty in right of Canada in taking the measures directed, and those expenses may be recovered from that person, with costs, in proceedings brought in the name of Her Majesty in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Park Communities

Marginal note:Preparation of community plan

• 33 (1) A community plan for each park community shall be tabled in each House of Parliament as soon as possible after this section comes into force, accompanied in the case of the town of Banff by any zoning by-laws made under the agreement referred to in section 35.

• Marginal note:Contents of community plan

  (2) A community plan for a park community must

  • (a) be consistent with the management plan for the park in which the park community is located;

  • (b) accord with any guidelines established by the Minister for appropriate activities within the park community;

  • (c) provide a strategy for the management of growth within the park community; and

  • (d) be consistent with principles of

    • (i) no net negative environmental impact, and

    • (ii) responsible environmental stewardship and heritage conservation.

• Marginal note:Elements to be included

  (3) A community plan, or the zoning by-laws referred to in subsection (1) and tabled with it, must include

  • (a) a description of the lands comprising the park community;

  • (b) a description of the lands comprising the commercial zones of the park community; and

  • (c) a measure of the maximum floor area permitted within the commercial zones of the park community.

• Marginal note:Amendment of Schedule 4

  (4) Subject to section 34, the Governor in Council may, by order, add the description of a park community, the description of its commercial zones and a measure of their maximum floor area referred to in subsection (3) to columns 2, 3 and 4, respectively, of Schedule 4, opposite the name of the community set out in column 1 of that Schedule, but any description or measure so added is not subject to amendment by the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Leases, licences, etc.

  (5) No lease or licence of occupation may be granted, and no permit, licence or other authorization may be issued, authorizing a commercial use of lands within a commercial zone of a park community if the maximum floor area for commercial zones specified for that park community in Schedule 4 would be exceeded as a result of that use.

Marginal note:Additions to be tabled and referred

• 34 (1) Before additions are made to Schedule 4 under subsection 33(4), the proposed additions shall be tabled in each House of Parliament, and on tabling they stand referred to the standing committee of each House that normally considers matters relating to parks or to any other committee that that House may designate for the purposes of this section.

• Marginal note:Disapproval by committee

  (2) The committee of each House may, within 30 sitting days after the proposed additions to Schedule 4 are tabled, report to the House that it disapproves the additions, in which case a motion to concur in the report shall be put to the House in accordance with its procedures.

• Marginal note:Disposition of motion for concurrence

  (3) The motion shall be debated for not more than three hours and disposed of in accordance with the procedures of the House.

• Marginal note:Additions allowed

  (4) Proposed additions to Schedule 4 may be made if 31 sitting days have elapsed after the tabling of the additions in both Houses and no motion referred to in subsection (2) has been proposed in either House.

• Marginal note:Additions not allowed

  (5) Proposed additions to Schedule 4 may not be made if either House passes a motion referred to in subsection (2).

Provisions for Particular Parks

Marginal note:Banff local government

35 The Governor in Council, having authorized the Minister to enter into the Town of Banff Incorporation Agreement dated December 12, 1989, being an agreement for the establishment of a local government body for the town of Banff in Banff National Park of Canada, and to entrust to that body the local government functions specified in the Agreement, may authorize the Minister to further amend the Agreement.

Marginal note:Town of Jasper — non-application of regulations

35.1 The following regulations do not apply in respect of the town of Jasper beginning on the day on which a municipal by-law applicable to that town respecting land use planning and development comes into force:

• (a) the Town of Jasper Zoning Regulations;

• (b) the National Parks Building Regulations;

• (c) the National Parks Signs Regulations; and

• (d) any regulation made under this Act that repeals the regulations referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c).

Marginal note:Lands for ski facilities

• 36 (1) No lease or licence of occupation may be granted for the purpose of commercial ski facilities on public lands in a park except within a commercial ski area described in Schedule 5.

• Marginal note:Designation of ski areas

  (2) The Governor in Council may, by order, add to Schedule 5 the name and a description of a commercial ski area in the vicinity of Sunshine Village in Banff National Park of Canada, but that Schedule is not otherwise subject to amendment by the Governor in Council.

Marginal note:Wildlife Advisory Board

• 37 (1) The Governor in Council may, by order, constitute a Wildlife Advisory Board for the traditional hunting grounds of Wood Buffalo National Park of Canada.

• Marginal note:Hunting, trapping and fishing permits

  (2) Notwithstanding any regulations made under section 17, permits for hunting, trapping and fishing by members of the Cree Band of Fort Chipewyan in the traditional hunting grounds of Wood Buffalo National Park of Canada shall be issued in accordance with regulations of the Wildlife Advisory Board.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (3) The Wildlife Advisory Board may, subject to the approval of the Governor in Council, make regulations respecting

  • (a) the issuance, amendment and revocation, by the superintendent of the Park, of permits for hunting, trapping and fishing by members of the Cree Band of Fort Chipewyan in the traditional hunting grounds of the Park;

  • (b) the qualifications for such permits; and

  • (c) the number of such permits that may be issued.

• Marginal note:Traditional hunting grounds

  (4) For the purposes of this section, the traditional hunting grounds of Wood Buffalo National Park of Canada consist of the lands shown on Plan 72702 in the Canada Lands Surveys Records at Ottawa, a copy of which is filed in the Land Titles Office at Edmonton under number 902-0325, which lands contain 8869 square kilometres (886 894 hectares).

Marginal note:Amendment of park descriptions

• 38 (1) Notwithstanding subsection 5(2) and section 13, the Governor in Council may, by order,

  • (a) amend or replace the description of Wood Buffalo National Park of Canada in Schedule 1 for the purpose of withdrawing from that Park any lands in the vicinity of Garden River in the province of Alberta that may be required for the establishment of an Indian reserve;

  • (b) amend or replace the description of Wood Buffalo National Park of Canada in Schedule 1, in accordance with an agreement between Canada and the Salt River First Nation or with any first nation formed from the division of that First Nation, for the purpose of withdrawing from that Park any lands that may be required for purposes of entitlement to land under Treaty Number Eight between Her Majesty the Queen and the Cree, Beaver, Chipewyan and other Indians;

  • (c) amend or replace the description of Riding Mountain National Park of Canada in Schedule 1 for the purpose of withdrawing from that Park the east half of Section 8 in Township 20, Range 19, for purposes of settling a claim of the Keeseekoowenin Band; or

  • (d) amend or replace the description of Wapusk National Park of Canada in Schedule 1, in accordance with the agreement between Canada and Manitoba respecting the establishment of that Park, for the purpose of withdrawing from the Park any lands that may be required for purposes of entitlement to land under

    • (i) Treaty Number Five between Her Majesty the Queen and the Saulteaux and Swampy Cree Tribes of Indians at Berens River, or

    • (ii) the Northern Flood Agreement concluded on December 16, 1977 between Canada, Manitoba, the Manitoba Hydro-Electric Board and the Northern Flood Committee, Inc.

• Marginal note:Lands not required

  (2) Lands withdrawn from Wood Buffalo National Park of Canada or Wapusk National Park of Canada pursuant to subsection (1) are declared to be no longer required for park purposes.

Park Reserves

Marginal note:Application of Act

39 Subject to sections 40 to 41.5, this Act applies to a park reserve as if it were a park.

Marginal note:Aboriginal resource harvesting

40 The application of this Act to a park reserve is subject to the carrying on of traditional renewable resource harvesting activities by aboriginal persons.

Marginal note:Agreement re Gwaii Haanas

• 41 (1) The Governor in Council may authorize the Minister to enter into an agreement with the Council of the Haida Nation respecting the management and operation of Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve of Canada.

• Marginal note:Resource harvesting and cultural activities

  (2) For the purpose of implementing an agreement referred to in subsection (1), the Governor in Council may make regulations, applicable in the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve of Canada, respecting the continuance of traditional renewable resource harvesting activities and Haida cultural activities by people of the Haida Nation to whom subsection 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982 applies.

• Marginal note:Additions to reserve

  (3) Pending the resolution of the disputes outstanding between the Haida Nation and the Government of Canada respecting their rights, titles and interests in or to the Gwaii Haanas Archipelago, the Governor in Council may, by order, alter the description of Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve of Canada in Schedule 2 for the purpose of adding to the Reserve any portion of the Gwaii Haanas Archipelago as described in Schedule VI to the National Parks Act, chapter N-14 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, as that Act read immediately before its repeal.

• Marginal note:Non-application of section 7

  (4) Section 7 does not apply in relation to the enlargement of Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve of Canada in accordance with subsection (3).