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Notice

Vol. 138, No. 9 — February 28, 2004

Regulations Amending the Contraventions Regulations

Statutory Authority

Contraventions Act

Sponsoring Department

Department of Justice

REGULATORY IMPACT
ANALYSIS STATEMENT

Description

The Contraventions Act (the Act) was adopted in October 1992 in order to establish a simplified procedure for prosecuting certain federal offences. The Act provides that offences designated as "contraventions" may be prosecuted through the issuance of a ticket. Because the implementation of the Act required that a complex administrative infrastructure be established first, the Act was not proclaimed immediately. At the request of the provinces and as a result of the Programs Review initiative, the Act was amended in 1996 to make it possible to use provincial and territorial offence schemes for the prosecution of contraventions. The Act, as amended, also authorizes agreements respecting the administrative and technical aspects of the contraventions scheme to be entered into with provincial and territorial governments. It came into force on August 1, 1996.

The Contraventions Regulations made pursuant to section 8 of the Act list the offences designated as contraventions, establish a short-form description and a fine amount for each contravention. The Regulations have been amended numerous times since their coming into force to add new contraventions or to reflect changes to the enabling legislation.

The proposed amendment to Schedule I.1 of the Contraventions Regulations would replace the short-form descriptions of contraventions to the Boating Restrictions Regulations, the Small Vessels Regulations and the Competency of Operators of Pleasure Craft Regulations and designate as contraventions several offences under these three regulations. Fines for these contraventions are set to $100 or $250 depending on the contravention.

Alternatives

In order to decriminalize a federal offence and give individuals the possibility of pleading guilty without having to appear in court, it is necessary that the Governor in Council, pursuant to section 8 of the Contraventions Act, designate that offence under the Contraventions Regulations and amend consequently these Regulations. There is no other option.

Benefits and costs

The Contraventions Regulations are an essential element for the pursuit of the following three objectives underlying the Contraventions Act: to decriminalize certain federal offences, to ease the courts' workload and to improve the enforcement of federal legislation. This amendment to the Regulations does not impose new restrictions or burdens on individuals or businesses. It is part of a system that will ensure that the enforcement of the designated offences will be less onerous on the offender and more proportionate and appropriate to the seriousness of the violation. While there is no data from which one can draw a comparison, there is consensus among all key players that designating contraventions will result in savings to the entire justice system and provide the public with a quicker and more convenient process for handling federal offences.

Consultation

The proposed amendment to the Contraventions Regulations is published in Part I of the Canada Gazette for a 30-day consultation period.

Compliance and enforcement

Compliance with these Regulations is not an issue as they only purport to identify the offences that are being designated as contraventions, give a short-form description of these offences and provide the applicable fines.

Contact

For further information concerning the proposed amendment to the Contraventions Regulations, please contact Michel Gagnon, Director, Contraventions Project, Department of Justice, 284 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8, (613) 998-5669 (Telephone), (613) 998-1175 (Facsimile), michel.gagnon@justice.gc.ca (Electronic mail).

PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT

Notice is hereby given that the Governor in Council, pursuant to section 8 (see footnote a) of the Contraventions Act (see footnote b), proposes to make the annexed Regulations Amending the Contraventions Regulations.

Interested persons may make representations with respect to the proposed Regulations within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be addressed to Michel Gagnon, Director of the Contraventions Project, Department of Justice, 284 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8.

Persons making representations should identify any of those representations the disclosure of which should be refused under the Access to Information Act, in particular under sections 19 and 20 of that Act, and should indicate the reasons why and the period during which the representations should not be disclosed. They should also identify any representations for which there is consent to disclosure for the purposes of that Act.

Ottawa, February 24, 2004

EILEEN BOYD
Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE CONTRAVENTIONS REGULATIONS

AMENDMENTS

1. Items 1 to 1.2 of Part I.2 of Schedule I.1 to the Contraventions Regulations (see footnote 1) are replaced by the following:

Item	Column I Provision of *Boating Restriction Regulations*	Column II Short-Form Description	Column III Fine ($)
1.	2.2(1)	Allow a person under 12 years of age to operate a pleasure craft with engine power greater than 7.5 kW without prescribed supervision	250
1.1	2.3(1)	Allow a person under 16 years of age to operate a pleasure craft with engine power greater than 30 kW without prescribed supervision	250
1.11	2.3(2)	Operate a pleasure craft with engine power greater than 30 kW without prescribed supervision — person under 16 years of age	100
1.2	2.5(1)	Allow a person under 16 years of age to operate a personal watercraft	250

2. The portion of item 11 of Part I.2 of Schedule I.1 to the Regulations in column II is replaced by the following:

Item	Column II Short-Form Description
11.	Speeding - in excess of 10 km/h within 30 m of shore: inland waters of Canada within Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta or British Columbia

3. Part I.2 of Schedule I.1 to the Regulations is amended by adding the following after item 15:

Item	Column I Provision of *Boating Restriction Regulations*	Column II Short-Form Description	Column III Fine ($)
15.1	12(2)	(a) Failure to give assistance to an enforcement officer	100
		(b) Failure to furnish information to an enforcement officer	100

4. Part II of Schedule I.1 to the Regulations is amended by adding the following after item 10:

Item	Column I Provision of *Small Vessel Regulations*	Column II Short-Form Description	Column III Fine ($)
10.1	4 and 16.02(1) and (5)(b)	(a) Operate pleasure craft not over 6 m after sunset and before sunrise without prescribed navigation lights	100
		(b) Operate pleasure craft not over 6 m in restricted visibility without prescribed navigation lights	100
		(c) Allow someone to operate pleasure craft not over 6 m after sunset and before sunrise without prescribed navigation lights	100
		(d) Allow someone to operate pleasure craft not over 6 m in restricted visibility without prescribed navigation lights	100

5. Part II of Schedule I.1 to the Regulations is amended by adding the following after item 20:

Item	Column I Provision of *Small Vessel Regulations*	Column II Short-Form Description	Column III Fine ($)
20.1	4 and 16.03(1) and (5)(b)	(a) Operate pleasure craft over 6 m but not over 8 m after sunset and before sunrise without prescribed navigation lights	100
		(b) Operate pleasure craft over 6 m but not over 8 m in restricted visibility without prescribed navigation lights	100
		(c) Allow someone to operate pleasure craft over 6 m but not over 8 m after sunset and before sunrise without prescribed navigation lights	100
		(d) Allow someone to operate pleasure craft over 6 m but not over 8 m in restricted visibility without prescribed navigation lights	100

6. Part II of Schedule I.1 to the Regulations is amended by adding the following after item 31:

Item	Column I Provision of *Small Vessel Regulations*	Column II Short-Form Description	Column III Fine ($)
31.1	4 and 16.04(1) and (5)(b)	(a) Operate pleasure craft over 8 m but not over 12 m without prescribed navigation lights	100
		(b) Allow someone to operate pleasure craft over 8 m but not over 12 m without prescribed navigation lights	100

7. Part II of Schedule I.1 to the Regulations is amended by adding the following after item 46:

Item	Column I Provision of *Small Vessel Regulations*	Column II Short-Form Description	Column III Fine ($)
46.1	4 and 16.05(1) and (5)(b)	(a) Operate pleasure craft over 12 m but not over 20 m without prescribed navigation lights	100
		(b) Allow someone to operate pleasure craft over 12 m but not over 20 m without prescribed navigation lights	100

8. Part II of Schedule I.1 to the Regulations is amended by adding the following after item 63:

Item	Column I Provision of *Small Vessel Regulations*	Column II Short-Form Description	Column III Fine ($)
63.1	4 and 16.06(1) and (5)(b)	(a) Operate pleasure craft over 20 m without prescribed navigation lights	100
		(b) Allow someone to operate pleasure craft over 20 m without prescribed navigation lights	100

9. Part II of Schedule I.1 to the Regulations is amended by adding the following after item 66:

Item	Column I Provision of *Small Vessel Regulations*	Column II Short-Form Description	Column III Fine ($)
66.1	12(1)	Fail to neither sign and deliver transfer form nor submit a signed notice of transfer	100

10. Item 79 of Part II of Schedule I.1 to the Regulations is replaced by the following:

Item	Column I Provision of *Small Vessel Regulations*	Column II Short-Form Description	Column III Fine ($)
79.	37(1)	(a) Operate a power-driven vessel without a muffler that is in good working order and in operation at all times	100
		(b) Operate a power-driven vessel with a muffler cut-out or by-pass that is not visibly disengaged	100
		(c) Permit another person to operate a power-driven vessel without a muffler that is in good working order and in operation at all times	100
		(d) Permit another person to operate a power-driven vessel with a muffler cut-out or by-pass that is not visibly disengaged	100

11. The portion of item 94 of Part II of Schedule I.1 to the Regulations in column II is replaced by the following:

Item	Column II Short-form Description
94.	Operate small vessel in a careless manner, without due care and attention or without consideration for others

12. The portion of item 16 of Part III of Schedule I.1 to the Regulations in column III is replaced by the following:

Item	Column III Fine ($)
16.	100

13. Items 1 and 2 of Part IV of Schedule I.1 to the Regulations are replaced by the following:

Item	Column I Provision of *Competency of* *Operators of Pleasure Craft* *Regulations*	Column II Short-Form Description	Column III Fine ($)
1.	3(1)(a)	Operate a pleasure craft without prescribed competency	250
2.	3(1)(b)	Failure to have proof of competency and proof of age on board a pleasure craft	250
2.1	3(2.1)(a)	Allow a person to operate a pleasure craft without prescribed competency	250
2.2	3(2.1)(b)	Allow a person to operate a pleasure craft without proof of competency and proof of age on board	250

14. Part IV of Schedule I.1 to the Regulations is amended by adding the following after item 3:

Item	Column I Provision of *Competency of* *Operators of Pleasure Craft* *Regulations*	Column II Short-Form Description	Column III Fine ($)
4.	8.3	Failure to comply with requirements of an enforcement officer	100

COMING INTO FORCE

15. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

[9-1-o]

Footnote a

S.C. 1996, c. 7, s. 4

Footnote b

S.C. 1992, c. 47

Footnote 1

SOR/96-313

NOTICE:
The format of the electronic version of this issue of the Canada Gazette was modified in order to be compatible with hypertext language (HTML). Its content is very similar except for the footnotes, the symbols and the tables.


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