CONTRAVENTIONS ACT AMENDMENTS

General

The Contraventions Act was adopted by Parliament in October 1992. It establishes a new class of federal offences called "contraventions". Offences to be designated as such are identified in consultation between the Department of Justice and other federal departments having responsibility for some form of legal enforcement. They are then formally designated as contraventions by regulation.

The Act also provides for the creation of a ticketing scheme so tickets could be handed out as the preferred alternative to summary conviction procedures under the Criminal Code. Although summary conviction procedures would still be available for the prosecution of contraventions, use of the ticketing alternative would remove a number of traditional criminal stigma for people who plead guilty to or are found guilty of committing a contravention. In such cases, there would be no criminal record, no requirement to provide fingerprints, no liability to be sentenced to a period of incarceration and a person could not be refused federal employment or issuance of a passport as a result.

Since an administrative infrastructure is required to receive payments, reconcile them with tickets issued, obtain default convictions and respond to pleas etc., the Contraventions Act was not proclaimed in force pending development of a cost-effective ticketing scheme. Through on-going constructive and co-operative consultations with provincial and territorial officials, it was determined that using existing systems was the most efficient way to proceed with implementation. These changes are designed to improve the effectiveness of federal law enforcement, not to generate revenue.

Amendments

This bill would amend the Contraventions Act to:

* permit the use of provincial and territorial offence schemes for the purpose of enforcing federal contraventions;

* give authority to the Minister of Justice to enter into agreements with provinces, territories, their municipalities and agencies to permit implementation;

* compensate provinces and territories for their costs in providing services to the federal government by sharing the resulting fine revenues;

* provide that the maximum amount of money available for sharing will be the amount of revenue generated by fines;

* provide that the federal government will retain authority to determine what offences can be ticketed;

* establish maximum fines for these offences and provide for lower fines for young offenders where appropriate;

* begin implementation on a province-by-province or territory-by-territory basis as agreements are reached; and

* define who may act as enforcement officers for federal offences.

A Practical Example

Boating safety is a major concern on lakes, rivers and coastal areas, and it provides a good practical example of how this legislation would work. At the present time, enforcement authorities have to choose between issuing warnings to boaters who are not complying with federal boating regulations -- such as carrying one life-jacket per person on board or exceeding speed restrictions -- or initiating a summary conviction procedure under the Criminal Code. This procedure calls for the issuance of a summons, automatic court appearances -- even if the person wants to plead guilty -- and results in a criminal record on conviction.

Under the proposed ticketing scheme, either a federal, provincial or municipal enforcement officer would be able to issue a ticket on the spot with a specified fine for the (safety) infraction. The person involved would be given the option to plead guilty merely by signing the ticket and forwarding payment to the appropriate authorities without having to appear in court and without getting a criminal record. The ticket would be processed using the ticketing process of the province or territory where the offence was committed. If the person opts not to plead guilty, then they would be given the opportunity to appear in court.

Communications and Executive Services Branch
Department of Justice
December 1995