Yukon Act (S.C. 2002, c. 7)

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.

Court of Appeal of Yukon

Marginal note:Sittings

44 The Court of Appeal of Yukon may sit in Yukon and, unless the laws of the Legislature provide otherwise, in any other place in Canada.

Real Property, Water, Oil and Gas

Administration and Control

Marginal note:Commissioner

• 45 (1) Subject to this Act and section 37 of the Northern Pipeline Act, the Commissioner has the administration and control of public real property and of oil and gas in the adjoining area and may, with the consent of the Executive Council, use, sell or otherwise dispose of that property, or any products of that property, that oil or gas, or any interest in that oil or gas, and retain the proceeds of the disposition.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) The Governor in Council shall, on the date of the coming into force of subsection (1), list public real property that is excluded from the administration and control of the Commissioner.

• Marginal note:Public real property acquired on behalf of a federal minister

  (3) If the entire or any lesser interest in land that is not public real property is acquired on behalf of a federal minister or federal agent corporation, the interest is not under the administration and control of the Commissioner.

Marginal note:Relinquishment

• 46 (1) The Commissioner may, with the consent of the Executive Council and with the approval of the Governor in Council, relinquish the administration and control of public real property or any interest in oil and gas in the adjoining area, either in perpetuity or for any lesser term.

• Marginal note:Administration of relinquished interest

  (2) The instrument indicating the Governor in Council’s approval must identify the federal minister or federal agent corporation that will have the administration of the relinquished public real property or interest.

Marginal note:Transfer to Commissioner

47 The Governor in Council may, on acceptance by the Commissioner given with the consent of the Executive Council, transfer to the Commissioner, either in perpetuity or for any lesser term, the administration and control of public real property or any interest in oil and gas in the adjoining area.

Marginal note:Right to waters vested in Her Majesty

• 48 (1) The rights in respect of all waters in Yukon belong to Her Majesty in right of Canada.

• Marginal note:Commissioner

  (2) Subject to this Act, the Commissioner has the administration and control of all rights in respect of waters in Yukon — other than waters in a federal conservation area — and, with the consent of the Executive Council, may exercise those rights or sell or otherwise dispose of them and may retain the proceeds of the disposition.

• Marginal note:Limitations

  (3) Subsections (1) and (2) are subject to any rights granted by or under an Act of Parliament in respect of waters.

• Marginal note:Dominion Water Power Act

  (4) Subsection (2) does not apply to 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.

Restrictions

Marginal note:Taking of administration by Governor in Council

• 49 (1) The Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister, may take from the Commissioner the administration and control of public real property and transfer the administration of the property to a federal minister or a federal agent corporation if the Governor in Council considers it necessary to do so for

  • (a) the national interest, including

    • (i) national defence or security,

    • (ii) the establishment, or changes to the boundaries, of a national park, historic site or other area protected under an Act of Parliament, and

    • (iii) the creation of the infrastructure required for initiatives in respect of transportation or energy;

  • (b) the welfare of Indians and Inuit; or

  • (c) the settlement of an aboriginal land claim or the implementation of an aboriginal land claim agreement.

• Marginal note:Taking of administration — adjoining area

  (2) The Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister, may take from the Commissioner the administration and control of any interest in oil and gas in the adjoining area for the purpose of the settlement of an aboriginal land claim or the implementation of an aboriginal land claim agreement and transfer the administration of that interest to a federal minister or a federal agent corporation.

• Marginal note:Consultation

  (3) The Minister, before recommending the taking of the administration and control, other than for a purpose related to national defence or security, shall consult the member of the Executive Council responsible for the public real property, or in the case of the adjoining area, the oil and gas.

Marginal note:Prohibition order — public real property in Yukon

• 50 (1) The Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister, may by order prohibit the issuance under this Act of interests in, or the authorization under this Act of the conduct of activities on, public real property specified in the order if the Governor in Council considers that the prohibition is required

  • (a) before the administration and control of the property is taken under paragraph 49(1)(a) or (b); or

  • (b) for the settlement of an aboriginal land claim or the implementation of an aboriginal land claim agreement.

• Marginal note:Prohibition order — lands in adjoining area

  (2) The Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister, may by order prohibit the issuance under this Act of interests in, or the authorization under this Act of the conduct of activities on, lands in the adjoining area specified in the order, if the Governor in Council considers that the existence of the interests or the conduct of the activities would be incompatible with or would interfere with

  • (a) any use to which the Government of Canada intends the lands to be put, including, in particular, their use as a national park or an airport or their use for purposes of national defence or navigation;

  • (b) the exercise, in relation to those lands, of any powers of the Government of Canada, including, in particular, powers respecting national security or the protection of the environment; or

  • (c) the settlement of an aboriginal land claim or the implementation of an aboriginal land claim agreement.

Marginal note:Prohibition order — waters in Yukon

51 The Governor in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister, may by order prohibit any use of waters in Yukon specified in the order, or the deposit of waste directly or indirectly into those waters, if the Governor in Council considers

• (a) that the use, or the deposit of waste, would be incompatible with or would interfere with a particular undertaking that is in the national interest; or

• (b) that the prohibition is required for the settlement of an aboriginal land claim or the implementation of an aboriginal land claim agreement.

Marginal note:Procedure

• 52 (1) The Minister shall, before an order under section 50 is made, notify the member of the Executive Council who is responsible for the public real property or, in the case of the adjoining area, the oil or gas that is the subject of the order and shall, before an order under section 51 is made, notify the member of the Executive Council who is responsible for water resources.

• Marginal note:Publication

  (2) After notification is given and at least 60 days before an order is made, the Minister shall publish in the Canada Gazette and in a newspaper that, in the opinion of the Minister, has a large circulation in Yukon notice of the proposed order. The order may not be made more than 120 days after the notice is published in the Canada Gazette.

• Marginal note:Interim prohibition

  (3) The prohibition takes effect before an order is made under section 50 or 51 on publication of the notice of the proposed order in the Canada Gazette and continues for a period of 120 days unless, during that period, the Minister publishes in the Canada Gazette notice of the Minister’s intention not to recommend the proposed order. The Minister shall also publish during that period the notice of the Minister’s intention in a newspaper that, in the opinion of the Minister, has a large circulation in Yukon.

• Marginal note:Consideration of representations

  (4) Before the Minister recommends that an order be made, the Minister shall consider any representations received within 60 days after the date of publication of the notice of the proposed order in the Canada Gazette.

• Marginal note:If proposed order varied

  (5) No further notice need be given under subsections (1) and (2) if the scope of application of the order is reduced to cover a smaller area or fewer activities than set out in the notice of the proposed order.