Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I will go as fast as I can.
I'm coming to you from unceded Algonquin territory. My name is Christopher Duschenes. I'm the director general of economic policy development at Indigenous Services. I'm here with Yves Denoncourt, the director of governance operations, and Karl Jacques, our senior legal counsel.
We welcome this opportunity to explain the measure of retroactivity to validate the First Nations Election Cancellation and Postponement Regulations.
In March 2020, early in the pandemic, many band councils governed under the Indian Act and under the First Nations Elections Act were faced with a dilemma: hold elections in their communities during the pandemic, despite strong advice from public health experts to avoid gatherings and social interactions that could contribute to the spread of COVID-19, or wait for their terms to expire and leave their communities without leadership, creating a government gap.
Neither the Indian Act nor the First Nations Elections Act provides chiefs or councils with the ability to extend their terms. In response to first nations public health concerns surrounding the pandemic, the Governor in Council, on advice of the Minister of Indigenous Services, made the First Nations Election Cancellation and Postponement Regulations. The regulations allow first nations chiefs and councils, including leaders from bands holding elections under custom code, to extend the terms of office of the chief and of the elected council for up to six months, with a potential second extension of up to six months. The decision to post the election is under the purview of chiefs and councillors, and must be made by a band council resolution submitted to the Minister of Indigenous Services.
The regulations were enacted with a sunset clause of April 8, 2021. On April 1, the Federal Court found that section 4 of the regulations, specifically enabling chiefs and councils of bands holding their elections under custom code to extend their elections, was ultra vires and invalid. The Government of Canada is appealing the Court decision as of April 6. The regulations have been extended for a period of six months with a sunset clause now of April 8, 2021.
Division 31 seeks to retroactively validate these regulations to ensure that decisions that were made pursuant to these regulations are valid, and that no concern related to the power and the authority of chiefs and councils during that time comes into question.
Thank you.