In its recommendation, the Standing Committee asked Justice Canada to take whatever legislative and regulatory measures it has at its disposal to ensure that the language rights protected under sections 530 and 530.1 of the Criminal Code and those provided for in Part IV of the Official Languages Act are respected in the Contraventions Act and in any present or future regulations or agreements with a province or territory under this Act.

The government first points out that it is firmly committed to Canada's linguistic duality as set out in its Action Plan for Official Languages, unveiled on March 12, 2003. The Government emphasizes that it has carefully reviewed the recommendation of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages and is striving to act on it.

It should be pointed out that on October 15, 1992, Parliament adopted the Contraventions Act to implement a simplified procedure for prosecuting certain federal statutory and regulatory offences that should otherwise be prosecuted in provincially administrated courts by way of summary conviction under Part XXVII of the Criminal Code. This alternative to summary conviction under the Code allows an enforcement authority to issue a ticket for violations that were designated as contraventions by regulation of the Governor in Council. This alternative provides enforcement authorities with a new tool to better enforce federal Acts and regulations.

The Act also allows an offender prosecuted by ticket to plead guilty to the alleged violation and avoid having to appear before the court. It also spares the offender the legal consequences related to a conviction for a criminal offence, regardless of whether the offender is prosecuted by summary conviction under the Criminal Code, in a province whose offence scheme was incorporated or elsewhere. Furthermore, this procedure will save costs for the government, the courts and citizens.

To date, some two thousand federal statutory and regulatory offences have been designated as contraventions under the Contraventions Regulations. They include offences under the Canada Shipping Act, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the Canada Wildlife Act, the Radiocommunication Act, the Non-smokers' Health Act, the Motor Vehicle Transport Act, 1987, the Small Vessel Regulations, the Boating Restrictions Regulations, the National Parks Fire Protection Regulations, etc.

After extensive consultation with the provinces and territories, the Contraventions Act was amended in 1996 to give the Governor in Council the authority to make a regulation incorporating the offence scheme of a province or territory to make that scheme applicable to contraventions committed in that province or territory. The Application of Provincial Laws Regulations therefore permits the use of the procedures established under these schemes (format of the ticket, the place where voluntary payments can be made, time in which an offender can choose a plea, etc.) for the prosecution of federal contraventions committed in a province or territory. These Regulations incorporate the offence schemes of the following provinces: Ontario, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Quebec.

Although it is legally possible to incorporate the offence scheme of a province or territory without its consent, this is not the case for the administrative aspect of this incorporation. Both levels of government must agree on the administrative terms for ensuring the effective implementation of the Act. The Act gives the Minister of Justice the power to sign an agreement with each province and territory for the purpose of its administration and implementation. Such an agreement sets out the various commitments of the province or territory concerned: printing of the tickets, their distribution to federally designated enforcement authorities, processing of the tickets issued, collection of fines, training, etc. As is the case for the agreements with Quebec and Ontario, an agreement may also include provisions allowing the attorney general of a province (or a municipal prosecutor) to conduct the prosecution of tickets issued in that province. With the exception of the agreement signed with Prince Edward Island, all our agreements already provide for a commitment from the signatory province to extend to trials for contraventions the language regime currently offered during trials for offences punishable by way of summary conviction. Except for Newfoundland and Labrador, such agreements were signed with all the provinces whose schemes were incorporated.

Following the Federal Court decision concerning the implementation of the Contraventions Act in Ontario, the Department of Justice undertook actively, with the officials of that province, an extensive analysis of the ramifications of this decision in the context of the Ontario offence scheme. Although the task was complicated by the fact that the province had transferred to its municipalities certain courts administration and court support functions relating to the implementation of the province offence scheme and of the Contraventions Act, the Department was able to conclude an agreement with this province that complies with the Court's findings. The Department of Justice also proposed an amendment to the Application of Provincial Laws Regulations to address the situation in Ontario.

In its Action Plan for Official Languages the Government of Canada has committed itself to take the measures at its disposal to ensure that all the language rights of a defendant who is prosecuted for a federal contravention under provincial and territorial offence scheme are respected. Under the Plan, some $24 million have been earmarked to help provincial and territorial governments implement the appropriate institutional structures to ensure compliance with the spirit of the Federal Court decision while taking into account the distinctiveness of each scheme.

Finally, the Government has noted and considered the Dissenting Opinion attached to the Committee's Report and intends to rectify the situation described therein. Accordingly, measures will be taken to ensure that Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers have in their possession tickets in each official language.