C-326 – An Act to amend the Territorial Lands Act – makes some small changes to how mining rights are handled in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Right now the government is allowed to make regulations regarding the leasing of mining rights and the compensation given to the holders of the surface rights. The first change C-326 makes is to make it so the government can make regulations regarding the “acquisition” instead of the “leasing” of these rights.
The second big change is that these regulations will be required to get the informed consent of any Inuit or Indigenous communities that would be affected by it. The government would also be required to protect the surface rights when making these regulations.