Any substantive changes in this Legislative Summary that have been made since the preceding issue are indicated in bold print.
Bill C-17, An Act to amend the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act and to make a consequential amendment to another Act,1 was introduced in the House of Commons on 8 June 2016 by the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs.
The bill amends the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act 2 (YESAA) by repealing the provisions that:
The provisions repealed by the bill were added to YESAA in 2015 with the passage by Parliament of the Yukon and Nunavut Regulatory Improvement Act.3
The bill repeals section 6.1 of YESAA, which authorizes the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs (or any other minister responsible for applying the Act) to delegate any of the minister's powers, duties or functions under the Act to the responsible Yukon minister.
The bill repeals section 49.1 of YESAA, which provides that a new assessment of a project is not required when an authorization is renewed or amended.
The bill repeals or amends provisions in YESAA to eliminate all time limits imposed on:
The bill repeals section 121.1 of YESAA, which authorizes the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs (or any other minister responsible for applying the Act) to issue binding policy directions to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board with respect to the exercise of the minister's powers, duties or functions.
The Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Act "is a single assessment process for considering the potential effects a proposed development may have on the Yukon's environment, people, communities and economy." 4 This Act implements Chapter 12 of the Umbrella Final Agreement between the Government of Canada, the Council for Yukon Indians and the Government of the Yukon 5 (Umbrella Final Agreement) and the resultant final agreements.
During consideration of the Yukon and Nunavut Regulatory Improvement Act by Parliament in 2015, several Yukon First Nations opposed some of the changes made to YESAA. The Council of Yukon First Nations believes that these changes contravene provisions of Chapter 12 of the Umbrella Final Agreement and other final agreements.6 The Council has since filed legal proceedings to overturn the provisions, but no ruling has been made.7
Bill C-17 is the federal government's response to concerns raised by the Yukon First Nations about the amendments made to YESAA in 2015.8 The Council of Yukon First Nations welcomes the changes made by Bill C-17.9
* Notice: For clarity of exposition, the legislative proposals set out in the bill described in this Legislative Summary are stated as if they had already been adopted or were in force. It is important to note, however, that bills may be amended during their consideration by the House of Commons and Senate, and have no force or effect unless and until they are passed by both houses of Parliament, receive Royal Assent, and come into force. [ Return to text ]
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