Yukon Act (S.C. 2002, c. 7)

Marginal note:Restrictions on powers

• 20 (1) Nothing in subsections 18(1) and (2) and section 19 shall be construed as giving the Legislature greater powers than are given to legislatures of the provinces under sections 92, 92A and 95 of the Constitution Act, 1867.

• Marginal note:Water-power

  (2) Despite subsections 18(1) and (2) and section 19, the Legislature may not make laws in respect of the right to the use and flow of waters for the production or generation of water-power to which the Dominion Water Power Act applies.

Marginal note:Agreement implementation Acts

21 Despite subsection 20(1), the Legislature may, in exercising its powers under sections 18 and 19 for the purpose of implementing aboriginal land claim agreements or aboriginal self-government agreements, make laws that are in relation to the matters coming within class 24 of section 91 of the Constitution Act, 1867.

Marginal note:Laws re conservation of wildlife

• 22 (1) Despite subsection 20(1), any law of the Legislature in relation to the conservation of wildlife, unless the contrary intention appears in it, applies to and in respect of Indians and Inuit.

• Marginal note:Hunting for food

  (2) Nothing in paragraph 18(1)(m) or subsection (1) shall be construed as authorizing the Legislature to make laws restricting or prohibiting Indians and Inuit from hunting for food on unoccupied public real property, other than a species that is declared by order of the Governor in Council to be in danger of becoming extinct. This subsection does not apply to laws that implement the Agreement given effect by the Western Arctic (Inuvialuit) Claims Settlement Act.

• Marginal note:Cessation of application

  (3) After a final agreement referred to in section 4 or 5 of the Yukon First Nations Land Claims Settlement Act is given effect by or under that Act, subsection (2) does not apply in respect of persons eligible to be enrolled under the agreement or the traditional territory identified in it.

Marginal note:Borrowing and lending

• 23 (1) The Legislature may make laws

  • (a) for the borrowing of money by the Commissioner on behalf of Yukon for territorial, municipal or local purposes;

  • (b) for the lending of money by the Commissioner to any person in Yukon; and

  • (c) for the investing by the Commissioner of surplus money standing to the credit of the Yukon Consolidated Revenue Fund.

• Marginal note:Restriction

  (2) The aggregate of all borrowings must not exceed the maximum amount set under subsection (4).

• Marginal note:Charge on Yukon C.R.F.

  (3) The repayment of money borrowed under a law made under paragraph (1)(a), and the payment of interest on that money, is a charge on and payable out of the Yukon Consolidated Revenue Fund.

• Marginal note:Maximum amount — borrowings

  (4) The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance, set the maximum amount of the aggregate of all borrowings.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (5) The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance, make regulations respecting borrowings for the purposes of subsections (2) and (4), including regulations respecting

  • (a) what constitutes, or is deemed to constitute, borrowing;

  • (b) the entities, or classes of entities, whose borrowings must be taken into account; and

  • (c) the manner in which the value of a borrowing is determined.

Marginal note:Withholding of assent

• 24 (1) The Governor in Council may, in writing, direct the Commissioner to withhold his or her assent to a bill that has been introduced in the Legislative Assembly.

• Marginal note:Consent of Governor in Council

  (2) A bill in respect of which a direction has been given may not become law without the Governor in Council’s assent, which assent may not be given later than one year after the day on which the bill is adopted by the Legislative Assembly.

Marginal note:Transmittal of laws

• 25 (1) A copy of every law made by the Legislature shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly to the Governor in Council within 30 days after it is made.

• Marginal note:Disallowance

  (2) The Governor in Council may disallow any law made by the Legislature or any provision of any such law at any time within one year after it is made.

Marginal note:Conflicting laws

26 In the event of a conflict between a law of the Legislature and a federal enactment, the federal enactment prevails to the extent of the conflict.

Marginal note:Official languages

• 27 (1) The ordinance entitled the Languages Act made on May 18, 1988 under the former Act and any successor to it may not be repealed, amended or otherwise rendered inoperable by the Legislature without the concurrence of Parliament by way of an amendment to this Act.

• Marginal note:Additional rights and services

  (2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall be construed as preventing the Commissioner or any other public officer or the Legislature or any other institution of the Yukon Government — whether by amending the ordinance referred to in that subsection, without the concurrence of Parliament, or by any other means — from granting rights in respect of, or providing services in, English and French or any languages of the aboriginal peoples of Canada in addition to the rights and services provided for in that ordinance.

Yukon Consolidated Revenue Fund

Marginal note:Establishment of fund

• 28 (1) All public moneys and revenue over which the Legislature has the power of appropriation shall form a fund to be known as the Yukon Consolidated Revenue Fund.

• Marginal note:Establishment of bank accounts

  (2) The member of the Executive Council designated for that purpose by a law of the Legislature shall establish, in the name of the Yukon Government, accounts with banks, or authorized foreign banks within the meaning of section 2 of the Bank Act that are not subject to the restrictions and requirements referred to in subsection 524(2) of that Act, in respect of their business in Canada, that the member designates for the deposit of public moneys and revenue.

Marginal note:Recommendation of Commissioner

29 It is not lawful for the Legislative Assembly to adopt or pass any vote, resolution, address or bill for the appropriation of any part of the public revenue, or of any tax, for any purpose that has not been first recommended to the Legislative Assembly by message of the Commissioner, in the session in which the vote, resolution, address or bill is proposed.

Marginal note:Appropriation of moneys granted by Parliament

30 When a sum of money is granted to Her Majesty in right of Canada by Parliament to defray expenses for a specified public service in Yukon, the power of appropriation by the Legislature over that sum is subject to the specified purpose for which it is granted.

Yukon Public Accounts

Marginal note:Fiscal year

31 The Yukon Government’s fiscal year is the period beginning on April 1 in one year and ending on March 31 in the next year.

Marginal note:Submission of Yukon Public Accounts to Legislative Assembly

32 The Commissioner, with the consent of the Executive Council, shall, on or before such day of the fiscal year as the Legislative Assembly may fix, lay before the Legislative Assembly a report called the Yukon Public Accounts for the preceding fiscal year and the Legislative Assembly shall consider the report.

Marginal note:Form and contents

33 The Yukon Public Accounts shall be prepared in any form that the Commissioner, with the consent of the Executive Council, directs. They shall be prepared in accordance with accounting principles recommended for the public sector by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada or its successor and shall include

• (a) consolidated financial statements for the Yukon Government that present

  • (i) the financial position as at the end of the fiscal year,

  • (ii) the accumulated surplus or deficit as at the end of the fiscal year,

  • (iii) the results of its operations for the fiscal year, and

  • (iv) the changes in the financial position for the fiscal year;

• (b) the opinion of the Auditor General of Canada referred to in subsection 34(1); and

• (c) any other information or statements that are required in support of the consolidated financial statements by or under any law of the Legislature.

Marginal note:Annual audit

• 34 (1) The Auditor General of Canada shall audit the accounts, including those related to the Yukon Consolidated Revenue Fund, and financial transactions of the Yukon Government in each fiscal year in accordance with auditing standards recommended by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada or its successor and shall express his or her opinion as to whether

  • (a) the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects and in accordance with accounting principles recommended for the public sector by that organization or its successor, the financial position of the Yukon Government as at the end of the fiscal year and the results of its operations in, and changes in its financial position for, the fiscal year; and

  • (b) the transactions of the Yukon Government that have come to the notice of the Auditor General in the course of the audit are within the powers of the Yukon Government under this or any other Act.

• Marginal note:Report

  (2) The Auditor General shall report to the Legislative Assembly any matter falling within the scope of the audit that, in his or her opinion, should be reported to the Assembly.

Marginal note:Supplementary report

35 The Auditor General of Canada may, at any time, inquire into and submit a supplementary report to the Legislative Assembly about any matter relating to the activities of the Yukon Government, including whether

• (a) accounts have not been faithfully and properly maintained or public money has not been fully accounted for or paid, where so required by law, into the Yukon Consolidated Revenue Fund;

• (b) essential records have not been maintained or the rules and procedures applied have been insufficient to safeguard and control public property, to secure an effective check on the assessment, collection and proper allocation of the revenue and to ensure that expenditures have been made only as authorized;

• (c) money has been expended for purposes other than those for which it was appropriated by the Legislature or has been expended without due regard to economy or efficiency; or

• (d) satisfactory procedures have not been established to measure and report the effectiveness of programs, where such procedures could appropriately and reasonably be implemented.

Marginal note:Inquiry and report

36 At the request of the Commissioner, made with the consent of the Executive Council, the Auditor General of Canada may, if in his or her opinion it does not interfere with the Auditor General’s primary responsibilities, inquire into and report to the Legislative Assembly on

• (a) any matter relating to the financial affairs of the Yukon Government or to public property in Yukon; or

• (b) any person or organization that has received or is seeking financial aid from the Yukon Government.

Marginal note:Powers of Auditor General

• 37 (1) For the purposes of carrying out the Auditor General of Canada’s functions under this Act, the Auditor General has all the powers that he or she has under the Auditor General Act.

• Marginal note:Access to information

  (2) Except as provided by any law made by the Legislature that expressly refers to this subsection, the Auditor General is entitled to free access at all convenient times to information that relates to the fulfilment of his or her responsibilities and is entitled to require and receive from the public service of Yukon any information, reports and explanations that he or she considers necessary for that purpose.

Administration of Justice

Judicature

Marginal note:Appointment of judges

38 The Governor in Council shall appoint the judges of any superior, district or county courts that are now or may be constituted in Yukon.

Marginal note:Tenure of office of judges

39 The judges of the superior, district and county courts in Yukon shall hold office during good behaviour but are removable by the Governor General on address of the Senate and House of Commons and shall cease to hold office on attaining the age of 75 years.

Supreme Court of Yukon

Marginal note:Judges of the Supreme Court of Yukon

40 A judge, other than a deputy judge, of the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories or of the Nunavut Court of Justice is, by reason of holding that office, a judge of the Supreme Court of Yukon.

Marginal note:Deputy judges

• 41 (1) The Governor in Council may appoint any person who is or has been a judge of a superior, district or county court of a province or a barrister or advocate of at least 10 years standing at the bar of a province to be a deputy judge of the Supreme Court of Yukon and fix his or her remuneration and allowances.

• Marginal note:Duration of appointment

  (2) A deputy judge may be appointed for any particular case or cases or for any specified period.

• Marginal note:Tenure of office

  (3) A deputy judge holds office during good behaviour but is removable by the Governor General on address of the Senate and House of Commons.

• Marginal note:Powers

  (4) A deputy judge shall be sworn to the faithful performance of his or her duties in the same manner as a judge of the Supreme Court of Yukon and, during his or her appointment, temporarily has and may exercise and perform all the powers, duties and functions of a judge of the Court.

Marginal note:Jurisdiction to try civil cases

42 The Supreme Court of Yukon has and may exercise and perform, in the Northwest Territories or Nunavut, all the powers, duties and functions of the Court with respect to a civil case, other than a civil case where the Court sits with a jury.

Marginal note:Jurisdiction to try criminal cases

• 43 (1) A judge of the Supreme Court of Yukon has and may exercise and perform, anywhere in Canada, all the powers, duties and functions of the Court with respect to any criminal offence committed or charged to have been committed in Yukon.

• Marginal note:Application of laws

  (2) All laws applicable to criminal proceedings in Yukon apply in like manner to proceedings held under this section at any other place in Canada.

• Marginal note:Enforcement of decisions

  (3) Any judgment, conviction, sentence or order pronounced or made in any proceedings held under this section outside Yukon may be enforced or executed at the place at which it is pronounced or made or elsewhere, either in or outside Yukon, as a judge of the Supreme Court of Yukon may direct, and the proper officers of Yukon have and may exercise all powers and authority necessary for the enforcement or execution of it at the place where it is directed to be enforced or executed, notwithstanding that the place is not in Yukon.