Northwest Territories Lands Act
Consolidated act- Citation
- S.N.W.T. 2014, c.13
- Source
- Unofficial consolidation PDF (justice.gov.nt.ca) consolidation downloaded Jun 6, 2026
This is an unofficial reading copy parsed from the Department of Justice consolidation PDF above — itself an office consolidation, not an official statement of the law. The authoritative text is in the Revised Statutes of the Northwest Territories, 1988 and the annual Statutes volumes.
- s.23 amended by Financial Administration Act, S.N.W.T. 2015, c.13,s.167
- Acts
- Commissioner's Land Act, s.2
- Commissioner's Land Act, s.2
- Financial Administration Act, s.167 → s.23
- Land Titles Act, s.1
- Land Titles Act, s.1
- Miners Lien Act, s.1
- Oil and Gas Operations Act, s.1
- Oil and Gas Operations Act, s.1
- Oil and Gas Operations Act, s.1
- Oil and Gas Operations Act, s.67
- Oil and Gas Operations Act, s.74
- Petroleum Resources Act, s.9
- Property Assessment and Taxation Act, s.1
- Property Assessment and Taxation Act, s.4
- Property Assessment and Taxation Act, s.4
- Property Assessment and Taxation Act, s.4
- Property Assessment and Taxation Act, s.19
- Protected Areas Act, s.33
- Protected Areas Act, s.100.1
- Protected Areas Act, s.100.2
- Surface Rights Board Act, s.65
- Regulations
- Commissioner's Land Regulations, s.1 (under the Commissioner's Land Act)
- Forest Management Regulations, s.57 (under the Forest Management Act)
- Form of Notification Regulations, s.1 (under the Northwest Territories Lands Act) → s.1
- Form of Notification Regulations, Schedule 1 (under the Northwest Territories Lands Act) → s.7(2)
- Form of Notification Regulations, Schedule 1 (under the Northwest Territories Lands Act)
- Land Withdrawal Order (Bluefish Lake), s.3 (under the Northwest Territories Lands Act)
- Land Withdrawal Order (Central and Eastern Portion of the South Slave Region), s.2 (under the Northwest Territories Lands Act)
- Land Withdrawal Order (Dehcho Region), s.3 (under the Northwest Territories Lands Act)
- Land Withdrawal Order (Dinaga Wek'ehodi (North Arm of Great Slave Lake)), s.3 (under the Northwest Territories Lands Act)
- Land Withdrawal Order (Eastern Portion of the South Slave Region), s.2 (under the Northwest Territories Lands Act)
- Land Withdrawal Order (Edéhzhíe (Horn Plateau)), s.3 (under the Northwest Territories Lands Act)
- Land Withdrawal Order (Hay River/Enterprise), s.3 (under the Northwest Territories Lands Act)
- Land Withdrawal Order (Reindeer Grazing Reserve), s.3 (under the Northwest Territories Lands Act)
- Land Withdrawal Order (Saoyú–Æehdacho (Grizzly Bear Mountain and Scented Grass Hills) National Historic Site), s.2 (under the Northwest Territories Lands Act)
- Land Withdrawal Order (South Slave Region), s.3 (under the Northwest Territories Lands Act)
- Land Withdrawal Order (South Slave/North Slave Regions), s.3 (under the Northwest Territories Lands Act)
- Land Withdrawal Order (Southwestern Portion of Dehcho Region), s.3 (under the Northwest Territories Lands Act)
- Land Withdrawal Order (Thaidene Nëné (East Arm of Great Slave Lake) Proposed Conservation Area), s.4 (under the Northwest Territories Lands Act)
- Northwest Territories Lands Regulations, s.8 (under the Northwest Territories Lands Act) → s.23
- Northwest Territories Lands Regulations, s.11 (under the Northwest Territories Lands Act) → s.10
- Property Assessment Regulations, s.16 (under the Property Assessment and Taxation Act)
- Reindeer Regulations, s.1 (under the Reindeer Act)
- Reindeer Regulations, s.4 (under the Reindeer Act)
by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly, enacts as follows:
INTERPRETATION
Definitions
1.In this Act,
"grant" means a notification or other instrument by which territorial lands may be granted in fee simple or for an equivalent estate; (concession)
"judge" means a judge of the Supreme Court; (juge)
"land" includes mines, minerals, easements, servitudes and all other interests in real property; (terre)
"Minister" means the Minister designated by the Executive Council for the purpose of this Act or the regulations; (ministre)
"notification" means a direction in a form prescribed by the Commissioner in Executive Council under paragraph 19(l) and issued under subsection 7(2); (notification)
"permit" means a permit issued under this Act or the regulations; (permis)
"penalty" means an administrative monetary penalty imposed under this Act for a violation; (sanction)
"territorial lands" means lands, or any interest in lands, under the administration and control of the Commissioner. (terres territoriales)
APPLICATION
Application
2.(1) Subject to subsection (2) and section 53, this Act applies only in respect of lands, or any interest in lands, that are transferred to the administration and control of the Commissioner on or after the date this Act comes into force.
(2) Sections 7 and 10 to 14 and paragraph 19(l) apply to all territorial lands.
(3) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as limiting the operation of the Dominion Water Power Act (Canada) or the Canada National Parks Act.
LAND MANAGEMENT ZONES
Land management zones
3.The Commissioner in Executive Council may, where he or she considers it necessary for the protection of the ecological balance or physical characteristics of any area in the Northwest Territories, by regulation set apart and appropriate any territorial lands in that area as a land management zone.
Regulations concerning zones
4.The Commissioner in Executive Council may make regulations respecting
(a) the protection, control and use of the surface of land in a land management zone set apart and appropriated under section 3; and
(b) the issue of permits for the use of the surface of land in a land management zone and the terms and conditions of and fees for those permits.
Principal
5.(1) Every person is guilty of an offence who
(a) contravenes any regulation made under section 4; or
(b) fails to comply with any term or condition of a permit issued under such a regulation.
(2) Every person who commits an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction,
(a) for a first offence, to a fine not exceeding $100,000; and
(b) for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding $200,000.
(3) An offence under subsection (1) that is committed or continued on more than one day constitutes a separate offence for each day on which it is committed or continued.
DISPOSITION OF
TERRITORIAL LANDS
Authorizing disposition
6.Subject to this Act, the Commissioner in Executive Council may authorize the sale, lease, licensing or other disposition of territorial lands and may make regulations authorizing the Minister to sell, lease, license or otherwise dispose of territorial lands subject to such limitations and conditions as the Commissioner in Executive Council may prescribe.
Interpretation
7.(1) In this section, the expressions "certificate of title" and "registrar" have the meanings assigned to them by the Land Titles Act.
(2) A notification may be issued to a registrar directing the registrar to issue a certificate of title to a person named in the notification in respect of territorial lands described in the notification that are within the registration district administered by the registrar.
(3) A notification must be signed and issued by the Commissioner or by a person designated in writing by the Commissioner in Executive Council to sign on the Commissioner’s behalf.
(4) The issue of a notification has the same force and effect as a grant of land made by letters patent under the Seal.
(5) A notification must set out the nature of the estate granted and any easements, rights or other interests excepted or reserved from that grant.
Prohibition
8.No territorial lands suitable for muskrat farming shall be sold.
Limitation on sale
9.(1) Not more than 160 acres of territorial lands may be sold to a person without the approval of the Commissioner in Executive Council.
(2) Subject to subsection (3), not more than 640 acres of territorial lands may be leased to a person without the approval of the Commissioner in Executive Council.
(3) Where territorial lands are hay lands or lands suitable for grazing or muskrat farming, not more than 6,400 acres may be leased to a person without the approval of the Commissioner in Executive Council.
MINING RIGHTS
Leasing of mining rights
10.The Commissioner in Executive Council may make regulations for the leasing of mining rights in, under or on territorial lands and the payment of royalties for the lease of those mining rights, and those regulations must provide for the protection of and compensation to the holders of surface rights.
RESERVATION FROM GRANTS
Reservation
11.Unless otherwise ordered by the Commissioner in Executive Council, administration and control of a strip of land 100 feet in width, measured from the ordinary high water mark or from the boundary line, as the case may be, is reserved to the Commissioner out of every grant of territorial lands where the land extends
(a) to the sea or an inlet of the sea;
(b) to the shore of any navigable water or an inlet of any navigable water; or
(c) to the boundary line between Yukon and the Northwest Territories, or between the Northwest Territories and Nunavut or between the Northwest Territories and the Province of Saskatchewan, Alberta or British Columbia.
Reservation of bed of body of water
12.Unless the grant contains a provision to the contrary, administration and control of the bed below the ordinary high water mark of a body of water is reserved to the Commissioner out of every grant of territorial lands where the lands border a body of water.
Other reservations
13.There is reserved to the Commissioner out of every grant of territorial lands, administration and control of
(a) all mines and minerals whether solid, liquid or gaseous that may be found to exist in, under or on those lands, together with the right to work the mines and minerals and for this purpose to enter on, use and occupy the lands or so much thereof and to such extent as may be necessary for the working and extraction of the minerals; and
(b) all rights of fishery and fishing and occupation in connection with, on or around, or adjacent to those lands.
Grant does not convey water rights
14.Unless the grant or other document establishing a grant, lease or other disposition of territorial lands expressly states the contrary, no grant, lease or other disposition of territorial lands conveys any exclusive right, privilege, property or interest with respect to any lake, river, stream or other body of water, within, bordering or passing through the lands.
SLIDES, STREAMS AND LAKE FRONTS
Works for the movement of timber
15.Unless the grant or other document establishing a grant, lease or other disposition of territorial lands expressly states the contrary, no grant, lease or other disposition of territorial lands
(a) conveys any right, title or interest in or to any slide, dam, pier, boom or other work constructed, for the purpose of facilitating the movement of timber, prior to the date of the grant, lease or other disposition of land;
(b) affects the unimpeded right to use or repair the works referred to in paragraph (a); or
(c) affects the unimpeded right to use, for the purpose of facilitating the movement of timber, all streams, lakes, bodies of water, portage roads or trails past rapids, falls or other natural obstacles or connecting bodies of water, or any land that has to be used in connection with that purpose.
Summons to vacate or show cause
16.(1) If under this Act the right of a person to use, possess or occupy territorial lands has been forfeited, or if, in the opinion of the Minister, a person is wrongfully or without lawful authority using, possessing or occupying territorial lands, and that person continues to use, possess or occupy or fails to deliver up possession of the lands, an officer of the Government of the Northwest Territories authorized by the Minister for that purpose may apply to a judge for a summons directed to that person calling on that person
(a) to, without delay, vacate or abandon and cease using, possessing or occupying the lands; or
(b) within 30 days after service of the summons on that person, to show cause why an order or warrant should not be made or issued for the removal of that person from the lands.
(2) If a summons has been served under subsection (1) and, within 30 days after the service of the summons, the person named in the summons has not removed from, vacated or ceased using, possessing or occupying the territorial lands or has not shown cause why he or she should not do so, a judge may make an order or issue a warrant for the person’s summary removal from the lands.
(3) A warrant issued under subsection (2) shall be executed by the Sheriff or a deputy sheriff, bailiff, member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or other person to whom it is delivered for that purpose and that person has all the powers, rights, immunities and privileges of a peace officer in the execution of his or her duty.
(4) A person to whom an order or warrant made under subsection (2) is addressed shall, without delay, remove the person named in the order or warrant from the territorial lands and all members of that person’s family, employees, servants, labourers, tenants or other persons employed by or living with that person or that person’s tenants with the tenants of the person.
(5) Service of a summons or warrant under this section may be made by leaving a copy with an adult person found on the territorial lands referred to in the summons or warrant and by posting up another copy in a conspicuous place on the lands or if no adult person is found on the lands referred to in the summons or warrant, by posting up copies in two conspicuous places on the lands.
Offence and punishment for trespassing
17.(1) A person who remains on territorial lands, returns to them or assumes any possession or occupancy of them after having been ordered to vacate them under section 16 or after having been removed from them under that section is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction
(a) for a first offence, to a fine not exceeding $100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both; and
(b) for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding $200,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both.
(2) An offence under subsection (1) that is committed or continued on more than one day constitutes a separate offence for each day on which it is committed or continued.
Appeals
18.An order or judgment of a judge in an action or proceeding under this Act is subject to an appeal by a party to the action or proceeding in the same manner as any other order or judgment of a judge.
REGULATIONS AND ORDERS
Orders and
19.The Commissioner in Executive Council may
(a) on setting out the reasons for withdrawal in the order, order the withdrawal of any tract or tracts of territorial lands from disposal under this Act;
(b) set apart and appropriate territorial lands for the sites of places of public worship, burial grounds, schools, market places, jails, court houses, town halls, public parks or gardens, hospitals, harbours, landings, bridge sites, airports, landing fields, railway stations, town-sites, historic sites or for other public purposes and, at any time before the issue of a grant, alter or revoke those appropriations;
(c) order that grants or leases for a nominal consideration be made of the lands appropriated under paragraph (b) and that there be expressed in a grant or lease the trusts and uses to which the territorial lands granted or leased are subject;
(d) set apart and appropriate such areas or territorial lands as may be necessary to enable the Government of the Northwest Territories to fulfil its obligations under land claim agreements and land and resource agreements in the Northwest Territories and to make free grants or leases for that purpose;
(e) set apart and appropriate territorial lands for use as game preserves, game sanctuaries, bird sanctuaries, public shooting grounds, public resorts or for any other similar public purpose;
(f) authorize the acquisition by a railway, power company or pipeline company, on and subject to such terms and conditions as may be considered proper, of a right-of-way for a road bed, for transmission lines or for pipelines through territorial lands together with such other territorial lands as may be considered necessary for stations, station grounds, workshops, buildings, yards, pumps, tanks, reservoirs or other appurtenances in connection with the transmission lines or pipelines;
(g) divide territorial lands into mining districts and land districts;
(h) prescribe a payment and refund scheme to guarantee work being performed on a mineral claim;
(i) make regulations or orders with respect to any question affecting territorial lands under which persons designated in the regulations or orders may inquire into such a question and may, for the purposes of the inquiry, summon and bring before them any person whose attendance they consider necessary to the inquiry, examine that person under oath, compel the production of documents and do all things necessary to provide a full and proper inquiry;
(j) prescribe a tariff of fees for copies of maps, plans, field notes, documents, papers and other records pertaining to territorial lands, and for the preparation of documents evidencing a sale, lease or other disposition of territorial lands and for the registration of any documents pertaining to territorial lands;
(k) make regulations respecting the protection, control and use of the surface of territorial lands;
(l) prescribe the form of the notification and the fee for the issue of the notification; and
(m) make such orders and regulations respecting any matter the Commissioner in Executive Council considers necessary to carry out the purposes and provisions of this Act.
Publication in
20.(1) Subject to subsection (2), a copy of
(a) each regulation setting apart and appropriating any territorial lands as a land management zone that the Commissioner in Executive Council proposes to make under section 3, and
(b) each regulation or amendment to a regulation that the Commissioner in Executive Council proposes to make under section 4 or paragraph 19(k),
shall be published in the Northwest Territories Gazette and a reasonable opportunity shall be afforded to all interested persons to make representations to the Minister with respect to that regulation or amendment.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a regulation made by the Commissioner in Executive Council if it is registered under the Statutory Instruments Act before April 1, 2014.
GENERAL
Effect of receipt
21.A receipt for payment made on the filing of an application to purchase or lease land does not entitle the person making the payment to take, occupy or use the land described in the receipt.
Execution of documents
22.A lease, agreement, licence, permit or notice of cancellation issued or made under this Act and a consent to an assignment of a lease, agreement, licence or permit may be executed on behalf of the Commissioner by the Minister, the Deputy Minister or other public officer as defined in the Financial Administration Act.
Interest
23.Whenever interest is payable under or by virtue of this Act or for or on account of any claim, matter or thing arising under any provision of this Act, the rate of interest shall be that interest rate prescribed under paragraph 145(j) of the Financial Administration Act, whether that interest is payable under the terms of any sealed or unsealed instrument or not. S.N.W.T. 2015, c.13,s.167.
Forms
24.The Commissioner in Executive Council may prescribe forms of leases, agreements of sale, licences and other documents required for use under this Act.
No interest by prescription
25.No person shall acquire an interest in territorial lands by prescription.
Government employees
26.(1) Subject to subsection (3) and except by or under the authority of an order of the Commissioner in Executive Council, no officer or employee of or under the Government of the Northwest Territories shall
(a) directly or indirectly, in his or her own name or in the name of any other person, purchase or acquire any territorial land or any interest in territorial land; or
(b) be interested as shareholder or otherwise in any corporation that purchases, acquires or holds any territorial land or any interest in territorial land.
(2) An order of the Commissioner in Executive Council made under subsection (1) that relates to any interest as shareholder or otherwise in a corporation may apply
(a) to a particular interest in a particular corporation described in the order or to interests in a class or classes of corporations described in the order; and
(b) where the order so specifies, to a particular interest or to interests acquired before the making of the order
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to the purchase, acquisition or holding of territorial land through participation in a sale or other disposition that is offered to the public under rules of general applicability that do not give preference to persons who are public officers.
Offence and punishment
27.Every person who contravenes any provision of this Act or any regulation for which no other punishment is provided is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.
Deeming: second or subsequent offence
28.(1) For the purposes of subsections 5(2) and 17(1), a conviction for a particular offence under this Act is deemed to be a conviction for a second or subsequent offence if the court is satisfied that the offender has been previously convicted of a substantially similar offence under any Act of the Northwest Territories, an Act of Parliament or any Act of the legislature of a province or territory that relates to environmental or wildlife conservation or protection.
(2) Subsection (1) applies only to previous convictions on indictment, to previous convictions on summary conviction and to previous convictions under any similar procedure under any Act of the legislature of a province or territory.
ADMINISTRATION AND ENFORCEMENT
Appointment
29.(1) The Minister may appoint persons or classes of persons as enforcement officers for the purposes of the administration and enforcement of this Act.
(2) An enforcement officer is to receive a certificate attesting to their designation and must, on request, present the certificate to any person appearing to be in charge of any place that the enforcement officer enters under subsection 30(1).
Authority to enter
30.(1) An enforcement officer may, for a purpose related to verifying compliance with this Act, enter any place in which the enforcement officer has reasonable grounds to believe there is any document, information or other thing to which this Act applies.
(2) The enforcement officer may, for a purpose related to verifying compliance with this Act,
(a) examine any document, information or other thing that is in the place and open or cause to be opened any container or other thing;
(b) test or cause to be tested anything that is in the place;
(c) take samples of anything that is in the place;
(d) use, or cause to be used, any computer system in the place to examine any information contained in or available to the system;
(e) reproduce, or cause to be reproduced, any information in the form of a printout, or other intelligible output, and remove the printout, or other output, for examination or copying;
(f) use, or cause to be used, any copying equipment or means of telecommunication at the place;
(g) take photographs and make recordings or sketches;
(h) order the owner or person in charge of the place or any person at the place to establish their identity to the enforcement officer’s satisfaction or to stop or start an activity;
(i) order the owner or person having possession, care or control of anything that is in the place to not move it, or to restrict its movement, for as long as, in the enforcement officer’s opinion, is necessary;
(j) direct any person to put any machinery, vehicle or equipment that is in the place into operation or to cease operating it; and
(k) prohibit or limit access to all or part of the place.
(3) The owner or person in charge of the place and every person in the place shall give all assistance that is reasonably required to enable the enforcement officer to perform their functions under this section and shall provide any documents or information, and access to any data, that are reasonably required for that purpose.
(4) The enforcement officer may be accompanied by any other person that they believe is necessary to help them perform their functions under this section.
(5) An enforcement officer shall not enter any place designed to be used and being used as a permanent or temporary private dwelling-place.
Private property
31.An enforcement officer and any person accompanying them may enter private property, other than a dwelling place, and pass through it in order to gain entry to any place referred to in subsection 30(1).
False or misleading information
32.(1) A person shall not knowingly make a false or misleading statement or provide false or misleading information, in connection with any matter under this Act, to an enforcement officer who is performing their functions under section 30.
(2) A person shall not obstruct or hinder an enforcement officer who is performing their functions under section 30.
ADMINISTRATIVE MONETARY PENALTIES
Regulations
Regulations
33.(1) The Commissioner in Executive Council may, make regulations for the purposes of sections 34 to 52, including regulations
(a) designating as a violation that may be proceeded with in accordance with this Act
(i) the contravention of any specified provision of this Act or of its regulations,
(ii) the contravention of any order, direction or decision, or of any order, direction or decision of a specified class, made under this Act, or
(iii) the failure to comply with a term or condition of any permit or licence, or of any permit or licence of a specified class, issued under this Act;
(b) respecting the determination of or the method of determining the amount payable as the penalty, which may be different for individuals and other persons, for each violation;
(c) establishing the form and content of notices of violations;
(d) respecting the service of documents required or authorized under this Act, including the manner and proof of service and the circumstances under which documents are considered to be served; and
(e) respecting reviews by the Minister in respect of a notice of violation.
(2) The amount that may be determined under any regulations made under paragraph (1)(b) as the penalty for each violation must not be more than $25,000 in the case of an individual, and $100,000 in the case of any other person.
Violations
Who may issue notices
34.Persons who are appointed as enforcement officers under section 29 are authorized to issue notices of violation.
Commission of violation
35.(1) Every person who contravenes or fails to comply with a provision, order, direction, decision, term or condition designated under paragraph 33(1)(a) commits a violation and is liable to a penalty in the amount that is determined in accordance with the regulations.
(2) The purpose of the penalty is to promote compliance with this Act and not to punish.
Liability of directors, officers, etc.
36.If a corporation commits a violation, any director, officer or agent of the corporation who directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in or participated in the commission of the violation is a party to the violation and is liable to a penalty in the amount that is determined in accordance with the regulations, whether or not the corporation has been proceeded against in accordance with this Act.
Proof of violation
37.In any proceedings under this Act against a person in relation to a violation, it is sufficient proof of the violation to establish that it was committed by an employee or agent of the person, whether or not the employee or agent is identified or proceeded against in accordance with this Act.
Issuance and service of notice of violation
38.(1) If an enforcement officer believes on reasonable grounds that a person has committed a violation, the enforcement officer may issue a notice of violation and cause it to be served on the person.
(2) The notice of violation must
(a) name the person that is believed to have committed the violation;
(b) set out the relevant facts surrounding the violation;
(c) set out the amount of the penalty;
(d) inform the person of their right to request a review with respect to the violation or the amount of the penalty, and of the period within which that right must be exercised;
(e) inform the person of the time and manner of paying the penalty; and
(f) inform the person that, if they do not pay the penalty or exercise their right referred to in paragraph (d), they are considered to have committed the violation and are liable to the penalty.
Rules About Violations
Certain defences not available
39.(1) A person named in a notice of violation does not have a defence by reason that the person
(a) exercised due diligence to prevent the commission of the violation; or
(b) reasonably and honestly believed in the existence of facts that, if true, would exonerate the person.
(2) Every rule and principle of the common law that renders any circumstance a justification or excuse in relation to a charge for an offence under this Act applies in respect of a violation to the extent that it is not inconsistent with this Act.
Continuing violation
40.A violation that is committed or continued on more than one day constitutes a separate violation for each day on which it is committed or continued.
Violation or offence
41.Proceeding with any act or omission as a violation under this Act precludes proceeding with it as an offence under this Act, and proceeding with it as an offence under this Act precludes proceeding with it as a violation under this Act.
Limitation period
42.No notice of violation is to be issued more than two years after the day on which the Minister becomes aware of the acts or omissions that constitute the alleged violation.
Reviews
Right to request review
43.A person who is served with a notice of violation may, within 30 days after the day on which it is served or within any longer period that is prescribed by the regulations, make a request to the Minister for a review of the amount of the penalty or the facts of the violation, or both.
Correction or cancellation of notice of violation
44.At any time before a request for a review in respect of a notice of violation is received by the Minister, an enforcement officer may cancel the notice of violation or correct an error in it.
Review
45.On receipt of a request for a review in respect of a notice of violation, the Minister shall conduct the review.
Object of review
46.(1) The Minister shall determine, as the case may be, whether the amount of the penalty was determined in accordance with the regulations or whether the person committed the violation, or both.
(2) The Minister shall render a determination in writing and cause the person who requested the review to be served with a copy of the determination and the reasons for it.
(3) If the Minister determines that the amount of the penalty was not determined in accordance with the regulations, the Minister shall correct it.
(4) If the Minister determines that the person who requested the review committed the violation, that person is liable to the penalty as set out in the determination.
(5) A determination made under this section is final and binding and, except for judicial review, is not subject to appeal or to review by any court.
Burden of proof
47.If the facts of a violation are reviewed, the enforcement officer who issued the notice of violation shall establish, on a balance of probabilities, that the person named in it committed the violation identified in it.
Responsibility
Payment
48.If a person pays the penalty set out in a notice of violation, the person is considered to have committed the violation and proceedings in respect of it are ended.
Failure to act
49.A person that neither pays the penalty within the period set out in the notice of violation, nor requests a review within the period referred to in section 43, is considered to have committed the violation and is liable to pay the penalty.
Recovery of Penalties
Debts to the Government
50.(1) A penalty constitutes a debt due to the Government of the Northwest Territories and may be recovered in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(2) No proceedings to recover the debt may be instituted more than five years after the day on which the debt becomes payable.
Certificate
51.(1) The Minister may issue a certificate of non-payment certifying the unpaid amount of any debt referred to in subsection 50(1).
(2) Registration in any court of competent jurisdiction of a certificate of non-payment has the same effect as a judgment of that court for a debt of the amount specified in the certificate and all related registration costs.
General
Authenticity of documents
52.In the absence of evidence to the contrary, a document that appears to be a notice issued under subsection 38(1) is presumed to be authentic and is proof of its contents in any proceeding in respect of a violation.
TRANSFER OF ADMINISTRATION
Transfer of administration to Commis- sioner’s Land
53.(1) Notwithstanding subsection 2(1), the Commissioner in Executive Council may, by regulation,
(a) order that any territorial lands or category of territorial lands be dealt with, for some or all purposes, as Commissioner’s land under the Commissioner’s Land Act instead of under this Act; and
(b) prescribe the purposes for which the lands may be dealt with as Commissioner’s land.
(2) If an interest has already been granted in the lands and still subsists when the order is made under subsection (1), that interest continues unaffected by the order and shall be respected and administered as if the order had not been made.
TRANSITIONAL
Matters governed by the Territorial Lands Act (Canada)
54.(1) This Act applies to all matters respecting lands under the administration and control of the Commissioner that were governed by the Territorial Lands Act (Canada) before the coming into force of this Act.
(2) This Act applies to all matters respecting lands under the administration and control of the Commissioner that were governed by the Federal Real Property and Federal Immovables Act (Canada) before the coming into force of this Act.
Continuation of rights and duties from Territorial Lands Act (Canada)
55.(1) The rights and duties accrued or accruing under, and the matters governed by the Territorial Lands Act (Canada) before certain territorial lands under that Act become territorial lands under this Act, continue in effect as rights and duties under and subject to the provisions of this Act.
(2) The rights and duties accrued or accruing under, and the matters governed by the Federal Real Property and Federal Immovables Act (Canada) before certain federal real property under that Act become territorial lands under this Act, continue in effect as rights and duties under and subject to the provisions of this Act.
Authoriza- tions under Territorial
56.(1) Any authorization in respect of lands that was in force under the Territorial Lands Act (Canada) immediately before the coming into force of this Act and that relates to lands that become territorial lands under this Act, continues in force in relation to those lands as if the authorization has been issued under this Act.
(2) Any licence in respect of lands that was in force under the Federal Real Property and Federal Immovables Act (Canada) immediately before the coming into force of this Act and that relates to lands that become territorial lands under this Act, continues in force in relation to those lands as if the authorization has been issued under this Act.
CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENTS
Commis- sioner’s Land Act
57.Section 2 of the Commissioner’s Land Act is amended by renumbering it as subsection 2(1) and adding the following after that renumbered subsection:
(2) Subject to subsection (3), this Act does not apply in respect of lands that became territorial lands within the meaning of the Northwest Territories Lands Act, on or after the date that Act comes into force.
(3) The Commissioner in Executive Council may
(a) order that any Commissioner’s lands or category of Commissioner’s lands be dealt with, for some or all purposes, as territorial lands under the Northwest Territories Lands Act instead of under this Act; and
(b) prescribe the purposes for which Commissioner’s lands may be dealt with as territorial lands under that Act.
(4) If an interest has already been granted in the lands and still subsists when the order is made under subsection (3), that interest continues unaffected by the order and shall be respected and administered as if the order had not been made.
COMMENCEMENT
Coming into force
58.This Act comes into force on April 1, 2014.
Yellowknife, N.W.T.
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