6 new N.W.T. acts you need to know about
The spring sitting of the Legislative Assembly was one of the busiest in history
This spring's session at the N.W.T. legislature was one of the busiest in history.
MLAs passed two bills and moved another 12 into committee, in the hopes they will be passed before this fall's election.
Here are six bills you should know about:
Passed: The Northwest Territories 911 Act
People in the N.W.T. will soon be able to call 911 in the event of an emergency, thanks to the Northwest Territories 911 Act, which passed on March 11.
The long-awaited act requires all telecommunications companies to sign on to the service, and adds a monthly fee to the bill for every landline and mobile phone. This billing system is similar to how 911 works in other jurisdictions, said Ashley Geraghty, manager of N.W.T. 911.
The charge has yet to be determined, but Geraghty said for the next three years, it can't be more than $1.70 a month per phone.
Once the act is in effect, no community or emergency service in the territory will be able to opt out of the service.
"It's going to be a great program and hopefully make a great difference," said Geraghty.
When exactly people in N.W.T. will be able to use 911 remains unclear.
In Committee: The Public Lands Act
Deposits, new penalties, and a simpler legal structure are in store for people who lease public land in the territory — or who camp in temporary structures without any lease at all.
The new Public Lands Act combines the Commissioner's Land Act, which governs territorial lands "within and around most communities," and the Northwest Territories Lands Act, which covers federal land.
Under the old system, the territory's public land was divided into a confusing patchwork of competing authorities, with different lease rates under each.
Only the minister could issue punishments to people illegally occupying lands covered by the NWT Lands Act, but any land inspector could penalize squatters on commissioner's lands.
The new bill will create a single legal framework and grant all enforcement officers the power to issue significant penalties — up to $25,000 for individuals — to squatters. Repeated offenders could face up to $100,000 in fines.
That may not affect Indigenous residents who don't have a land-use agreement. In the Legislative Assembly, Justice Minister Louis Sebert said the government is working with Indigenous governments to "identify potential rights-based cabins."
The government estimates there are more than 700 cabins on public land without a lease in the territory, mostly around Yellowknife.
In Committee: The Environmental Rights Act
If any resident believes someone has caused "significant" harm to the environment, they will be able to use the new Environmental Rights Act to request an investigation by the minister.
The minister then needs to get in touch every 90 days to confirm that the investigation is proceeding.
The act also asks the government to create a "statement of environmental values" to guide future decision making, and produce a report on the "state of the environment" every four years.
Frame Lake MLA Kevin O'Reilly, who submitted the first ever request for an investigation under the old act in 1991, said the new act is "too similar" to the old one.
"There are very few ways in which environmental rights are clearly defined or made enforceable," he said in the legislature.
The fact that "significant harm" is not defined means requesting an investigation may actually become harder, he said.
In Committee: Amendments to the Petroleum Resources and Oil & Gas Operations Acts
Two sets of amendments could simplify old oil and gas laws held over from devolution.
The changes have been a priority for Premier Bob McLeod, who spoke about their importance to a gathering of oil and gas industry leaders in Calgary this month.
In effect, the amendments expand the powers of the Office of the Regulator of Oil and Gas Operations (OROGO) and the minister.
They'll be able to compel information from resource companies — including financial data — and decide when to withhold that information from the public.
"This seems to be part of a very troubling trend that we are beginning to see with this post-devolution legislation," said O'Reilly in the legislature. "Ministers are increasingly being given discretion and authority."
In addition, companies will now have only 15 years to sit on a "significant discovery" before they'll have to begin exploration or request an extension. Once they start, they'll be limited to 25 years before they have to begin producing.
In Committee: The Mineral Resources Act
The proposed Mineral Resources Act will revamp mining laws that haven't changed since devolution in 2014, when the federal government handed control over lands and natural resources to the territory.
The proposed act sets out rules for exploration, mining and the collection of geoscience data in the territory. It also gives the minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment new decision-making powers.
Notably, the act would require mining companies to sign benefit agreements with Indigenous groups before production at a new mine begins.
According to the government, benefit agreements are meant to do more than simply offset the negative effects of mining, such as lost hunting opportunities.
They could provide money, training or contracts to Indigenous groups and businesses.
The government says it didn't review the territory's royalty regime ahead of drafting the legislation. It says royalties will be defined later, in the act's regulations.
In Committee: The Corrections Act
The proposed Corrections Act replaces the existing law, which the Justice Department says is decades old.
According to the bill's summary, the act "focuses less on punishment and more on rehabilitation and community reintegration."
For example, it directs corrections officials to co-ordinate with communities so that after offenders are released, they can continue the programming they started in jail.
The act does not set a limit on the number of consecutive days an inmate can spend in segregation.
Richard Robertson, a director in the justice department, said in an email that segregation limits will be set out in the regulations, which haven't been written yet.
Robertson said in the last year, the longest an inmate has been held in segregation in any jail in the territory was 13 days.