First Nations Certainty of Land Title Act (Bill C-24) pushed through parliament in 30 minutes
From <e-notes> from fourarrows@rogers.com
0n June 15 2010, Bill C-24, formally known as “An Act To Amend the First Nations Commercial and Industrial Development Act” and informally known as the “First Nations Certainty of Land Title Act”, was presented in the House of Commons and in 30 minutes it passed second reading, was deemed to have been referred to a committee of the whole, deemed to have been reported without amendment, deemed concurred in at report stage, deemed read a third time and passed, and then was being tabled in the Senate for First Reading.
All this took place in 30 minutes.
The Bill was first introduced in the House of Commons on May 12, 2010. Then on June 15 in its 30 minutes of review, it passed through the House of Commons. The Bill amends an Act which enables “participating First Nations communities”: to request that the Government of Canada make regulations respecting the establishment and operation of a system for the registration of interests and rights in reserve lands. The system would replicate the provincial land title or registry system. The Act requires that a First Nation asks to have the system apply, that the province be willing to participate, and that there be a private sector proponent who wants the Act to be in place.
The Bill is virtually identical to Bill C-63 which was introduced in the House of Commons on 10 December 2009, and then died on the Order Paper when Parliament was prorogued by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on December 30.
For additional information, see
- The Bill as passed by the House of Commons can be found at http://www2.parl.gc.ca/content/hoc/Bills/403/Government/C-24/C-24_3/C-24_3.PDF
- James Gauthier and Tonina Simeone of the Library of Parliament provide a legislative summary of Bill C-24 at http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/LegislativeSummaries/40/3/40-3-c24-e.pdf
- Tom Flanagan's Opinion on First Nations property rights: Going beyond the Indian Act at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/first-nations-property-rights-going-beyond-the-indian-act/article1508574/