Lands & Regulation - Nunavut Planning - Industry Letter

It is therefore recommended that subsection 154(1) and, in particular paragraph (b) of that
subsection, adopt an analogous approach, and be amended to read as follows:
154. (1) ...the proponent may undertake or carry out exploration or
development activities that relate directly to a project that is subject to a
review under this Part if
. . .
(b) the activities may, in the Board’s opinion, after consulting with
the proponent, proceed without such a review.
The proposed amendment may be of particular importance until Schedule 3 of Bill C-
215 has been enacted to define works and undertakings that are exempt from screening,
and until regulations made pursuant to paragraph 228(2)(b) have defined any “class of
non-exempt activities” as contemplated by paragraph 154(1)(a) that are subject to the
proposed enactment.
4. Section 208 – Exemption of a Suspended Project from Assessment
Section 208 provides that certain projects are exempt from an assessment under Part 3
of the proposed enactment. Paragraph 208(1)(b) states that exempt projects include
“...the rebuilding of a work that has been closed for a period of less than five years if it
relates to a project that was approved under [Part 3] and lawfully carried out”.
By incorporating the words “...and lawfully carried out...”, section 208 would
potentially have the effect of disqualifying a project from the exemption that would
otherwise be available because of an infraction of some other law or regulation, no
matter how minor or unrelated to adverse environmental or socio-economic impacts the
non-compliance may have been.
Paragraph 208(1)(b) should therefore be amended to ensure that the exemption from
further review will only be denied where the project has not been carried out
substantially in accordance with the proposed legislation.
It is therefore recommended that paragraph 208(1)(b) be revised to read as follows:
(b)
the rebuilding of a work that has been closed for less than five years if it
relates to a project that was approved under [Part 3] and has been carried
out substantially in accordance with this Act.
5. Section 235 – Exemption of a Project Being Assessed under the NLCA
Paragraph 235(1)(a) exempts, from the application of Bill C-25, “...any project that is
being assessed under the [Nunavut Land Claims] Agreement or is being, or has been,
lawfully carried out on the day this section comes into force.”
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