Bill C-22 · 41th Parliament · Stephen Harper
Eeyou Marine Region Land Claims Agreement Act
An Act to give effect to the Agreement between the Crees of Eeyou Istchee and Her Majesty the Queen in right of Canada concerning the Eeyou Marine Region
Government bill. Became law.
- IntroducedNov. 4, 2011
- Debated in principleNov. 4, 2011
- Studied by a committeeDone
- Passed its first chamberNov. 4, 2011
- Passed the second chamberNov. 22, 2011
- Became lawNov. 28, 2011
Leading supporters
Ranked by the part each played: who is responsible for the bill, who carried it, and who spoke for it most.
- Stephen HarperPrime Minister
- Rebecca PattersonSenate · Sponsor in the Senate
- Nick G. SibbestonSenate · SenatorHe spoke in favour at third reading, noting the committee review and urging all senators to support the bill.
- Leona AglukkaqShe moved to introduce the bill in the House.
Who carries this bill
Arrows run from the person responsible to those who answer to them on this bill. The critic leads the Senate’s scrutiny and answers to no one on it.
What it set out to do
The Library of Parliament does not prepare Legislative Summaries for bills that implement treaties, conventions, agreements or administrative arrangements bills. The following is a short summary: On 4 November 2011, the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development introduced Bill C-22, An Act to give effect to the agreement between the Crees of Eeyou Istchee and Her Majesty the Queen in right of Canada concerning the Eeyou Marine region) (Eeyou Marine Region Land Claims Agreement Act), in the House of Commons and it was given first reading. Bill C-22 enacts the Eeyou Marine Region Land Claims Agreement, an agreement between the Crees of Eeyou Istchee and the Government of Canada which covers an area of approximately 61,270 square kilometers off the Quebec shore in the eastern James Bay and southern Hudson Bay. The Agreement settles the land and resource rights, including those of Canada and the Crees, over the islands and the marine waters in this area.
Summary by the Library of Parliament.
Where members stand
How it changed on the way
The texts have not been compared yet.
How precisely it is written
mostly preciseChallenging the law: HardDisputing a charge: Moderate
The Act uses defined terms, fixed timelines, and objective procedural rules to incorporate the Agreement. A few provisions grant broad regulatory power or rely on the external Agreement text.
Open to argument
“The Governor in Council may make any orders and regulations that are necessary for the purpose of carrying out any of the provisions of the Agreement.”
Uses the subjective standard 'necessary' without objective criteria or limits on scope.
Clear-cut
“be served at least 14 days before the day of argument”
Sets a clear, numerical minimum notice period.“Within 10 years after this Act receives royal assent”
Provides fixed, objective time limits for reviews.“The Agreement is a treaty within the meaning of sections 25 and 35 of the Constitu”
Directly ties the Act to specific constitutional provisions with no interpretive discretion.
Discretion. The Governor in Council holds open-ended power to issue any orders or regulations deemed necessary to implement the Agreement, and the Minister designated by the Governor in Council conducts the mandatory review.
Challenging the law itself. The Act implements a treaty affirmed under section 35 of the Charter, making vagueness or overbreadth claims difficult to sustain on the supplied text.
Disputing a charge under it. Because many obligations are defined in the external Agreement rather than the Act itself, disputes over breach would require interpreting that separate document.
Read by a language model from the royal assent text; every quoted phrase appears in the bill. A reading of the drafting, not legal advice.
Did it work?
effective
The Eeyou Marine Region Land Claims Agreement Act successfully gave effect to the 2010 treaty by enacting it into law (royal assent 2011, in force 2012), establishing the required institutions of public government, and mandating ongoing implementation mechanisms including a 10-year comprehensive review. Official annual implementation reports and the collaborative 2023 10-year review confirm structured progress in fulfilling the agreement's obligations without reported major failures or litigation.
- Report on the comprehensive review of the first ten years of implementation of the Eeyou Marine Region Land Claims AgreementreviewCrown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, in collaboration with the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee) and Cree Nation Government, completed and published the mandated 10-year review of implementation in 2023.
- Eeyou Marine Region Land Claims Agreement : implementation report (annual series)reviewIndigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (later CIRNAC) has published annual implementation reports starting with fiscal years 2011/2012–2013/2014, documenting funding, institutions, and activities.
Who lobbied on it
No lobbying registration naming this bill is loaded.
Stages and dates from LEGISinfo.