Chap. 14.
An Act to amend the Indian Act
[Assented to 19th May, 1911]
His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of
Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:--
1. Subsection 1 of section 46 of The Indian Act, chapter 81 of the Revised Statutes, 1906, is repealed, and the following is substituted therefor:--
"46. No portion of any reserve shall be taken for the purpose of any railway,
road, public work, or work designed for any public utility without the consent of
the Governor in Council, but any company or municipal or local authority
having statutory power, either Dominion or Provincial, for taking or using lands
or any interest in lands without the consent of the owner may, with the consent
of the Governor in Council as aforesaid, and subject to the terms and
conditions imposed by such consent, exercise such statutory power with
respect to any reserve or portion of a reserve; and in any such case
compensation shall be made therefor to the Indians of the band, and the
exercise of such power, and the taking of the lands or interest therein and the
determination and payment of the compensation shall, unless otherwise
provided by the order in council evidencing the consent of the Governor in
Council, be governed by the requirements applicable to the like processing by
such company, municipal, or local authority in ordinary cases."
2. The said Act is amended by inserting the following section immediately after section 49 thereof:--
"49A. In the case of an Indian reserve which adjoins or is situated wholly or
partly with an incorporated town or city having a population of not less than
eight thousand, and which reserve has not been released or surrendered by
the Indians, the Governor in Council may, upon the recommendations of the
Superintendent-General, refer to the judge of the Exchequer Court of Canada
for inquiry and report the questions as to, whether it is expedient, having
regard to the interest if the public and if the Indians of the band foe whose use
the reserve is held, that the Indians should be removed from the reserve or
nay part of it.
"2. The order in council made in the case shall be certified by the Clerk of the
Privy Council to the Registrar of the Exchequer Court of Canada, and the
judge of court shall thereupon proceed as soon as convenient to fix a time and
place, of which due notice shall be given by publication in The Canada
Gazette, and otherwise as may be directed by the judge, for taking the
evidence and hearing and investigating the matter.
"3. The judge shall have the like power to issue subpoenas, compel the attendance and examination of witnesses, take evidence, give directions, and generally to hear and determine the matter and regulate the procedure as in proceedings upon information by the Attorney General within the ordinary jurisdiction of the court, and shall assign counsel to represent and act for the Indians who may be opposed to the proposed removal.
"4. If the judge finds that it is expedient that the band of Indians should
be removed from the reserve or any part of it, he shall proceed, before making
his report, to ascertain the amounts of compensation, if any, which should be
paid respectively to individual Indians of the vans for the special loss or
damages which they will sustain in respect of the buildings or improvements to
which they are entitled upon the lands of the reserve for which they are
located; and the judge shall, moreover, consider and report upon any of the
other facts or circumstances of the case which he may deem proper or
material to be considered by the Governor in Council.
"5. The judge shall transmit his findings, with the evidence and a
report of the proceedings, to the Governor in Council, who shall lay a full
report of the proceedings, the evidence and the findings before Parliament at
the then current or next ensuing session thereof, and upon such findingsbeing
approved by resolution of parliament the Governor in Council may thereupon
give effect to the said findings and cause the reserve, or any part thereof from
which it is found expedient to remove the Indians, to be sold or leased by
public auction after three months advertisement in the public press, upon the
best terms which, in the opinion of the Governor in Council, may be obtained
therefor.
"6. The proceeds of the sale or lease, after deducting the usual
percentage for management fund, shall be applied in compensating individual
Indians for their buildings or improvements as found by the judge, in
purchasing a new reserve for the Indians removed, in transferring the said
Indians with their effects thereto, in erecting buildings upon the new reserve,
and in providing the Indians with such other assistance as the Superintendent-General may consider advisable; and the balance of the proceeds, if any, shall
be placed to the credit of the Indians" provided that the Government shall not
cause the Indians to be removed, or disturb their possession, until a suitable
reserve has been obtained and set apart for them in lieu of the reserve from
which the expediency of removing the Indians is so established as aforesaid.
"7. For the purpose of selecting, appropriating and acquiring the lands
necessary to be taken, or which it may be deemed expedient to take, for any
new reserve to be acquired for the Indians as authorized by the last preceding
sub-section, whether they are Crown ands or not, the Superintendent-General
shall have all the powers conferred upon the Minister by The Expropriation
Act, and such new reserve shall, for the purposes aforesaid, be deemed to be
a public work within the definition of that expression in The Expropriation Act:
and all the provisions of The Expropriation Act, in so far as applicable and not
inconsistent with this Act, shall apply in respect of the proceedings for the
selection, survey, ascertainment and acquisition of the lands required and the
determination and payment of the compensation therefor: Provided, however,
that the Superintendent-General shall not exercise the power of expropriation
unless authorized by the Governor in Council."
3. Section 171 of the said Act is repealed and the following is substituted therefor:--
"171. The Annuities payable to Indians in pursuance of the conditions of any treaty expressed to have been entered into on behalf of His Majesty or his predecessors, and for the payment of which the Government of Canada is responsible, shall be a charge upon the consolidated Revenue Fund of Canada, and be payable out of any unappropriated moneys forming part thereof."
4. Subsection 1 of section 37a of the said Act, as enacted by section 1 of chapter
28 of the statutes of 1910, is hereby repealed and the following is substituted
therefor:--
"37A. If the possession of any lands reserved or claimed to be reserved for the Indians, or of any lands of which the Indians or any Indian or any band or tribe of Indians claim the possess: on or any right of possession, is withheld, or if any such lands are adversely occupied or claimed by any person, or if any trespass committed thereon, the possession may be revoked for the Indians or Indian or band or tribe of Indians, or the conflicting claims may be adjudged and determined or damages may be recovered in an action at the suit of His Majesty on behalf of the Indians or Indian or band or tribe of Indians entitled to or claiming the possession or right of possession or entitled to or claiming the possession or right of possession or entitled to or claiming the declaration, relief or damages."