Vol. 137, No. 27 — December 31, 2003

Registration
SOR/2003-416 11 December, 2003

CONTRAVENTIONS ACT

P.C. 2003-2000 11 December, 2003

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice, pursuant to section 8 (see footnote a)  of the Contraventions Act (see footnote b) , hereby makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Contraventions Regulations.

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE CONTRAVENTIONS REGULATIONS

AMENDMENT

1. The Contraventions Regulations (see footnote 1)  are amended by adding the following after Schedule II:

SCHEDULE II.1
(Sections 1 to 3)

FISHERIES ACT

Ontario Fishery Regulations, 1989

COMING INTO FORCE

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

REGULATORY IMPACT
ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Description

The Contraventions Act (the Act) was passed in October 1992 to establish a simplified procedure for prosecuting certain federal offences. The Act provides that offences designated as "contraventions" may be prosecuted by means of a ticket. At the request of the provinces and as a result of the Program 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 the signing of agreements with provincial and territorial governments respecting the administrative and technical aspects of implementing the contraventions scheme.

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

Many years before the coming into force of the Act and of the Contraventions Regulations, provisions were added to the Fisheries Act to make it possible to prescribe fishing offences for which a Conservation Officer could issue a ticket and to set the fine payable for these offences. Such prescribed fishing offences and fines are found in Schedule XIII of the Ontario Fishery Regulations, 1989. The latter regulations control fishing activity in that province by establishing fishing quotas, close times, gear restrictions and other rules necessary for the management and conservation of fisheries.

The ticketing process under the Fisheries Act requires Conservation Officers to go to court to swear and file tickets and thereafter to appear in court twice for each ticket that is not paid voluntarily. The fact that it will be possible through the Act to take advantage of the provincial offence scheme, i.e., the Provincial Offences Act of Ontario, will mean a much simpler and more cost effective system for processing fishing violations in that province.

The amendment to the Contraventions Regulations adds as contraventions several offences under the Ontario Fishery Regulations, 1989, and sets the applicable fine for each of them. However, for the Act regime to apply to fishing violations, Schedule XIII and some other related provisions must be deleted from the Ontario Fishery Regulations, 1989 at the same time.

For nearly 20 years fines under the Ontario Fishery Regulations, 1989 have ranged from $50 to a maximum of $100. Under the amendment to the Contraventions Regulations, the fine levels for these fishing violations will be increased to range from $50 to $300 to both reflect the value of the fishery resource and adequately serve as a deterrent and penalty. The increases will bring fines into line with those applicable under similar legislation in other provinces and territories (e.g., fines under the Manitoba Fishery Regulations and the Migratory Birds Regulations made pursuant to the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994). The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has consulted extensively the public concerning these increases.

Certain offences, such as fishing in excess of an established quota, will continue to have sliding scale fines. As an example, the formula for fishing in excess of an established quota will be $100 plus $50 per fish over the quota.

As with the ticketing system under the Fisheries Act, it will still be possible to charge summarily a contravenor and seek the imposition of the maximum fine amount applicable under that Act, jail terms, and the forfeiture of permits and of fishing gears.

Alternatives

The only alternative to this amendment is to continue prosecuting offences under the Ontario Fishery Regulations, 1989 pursuant to the ticketing regime found in the Fisheries Act and to increase fine levels in the schedule to those Regulations. This alternative was rejected because it did not take advantage of the more effective and economical ticketing scheme under the Act. It would have perpetuated a system more costly to the provincial government and to the courts.

The increase of fine levels that had remained unchanged for approximately 20 years will better demonstrate the importance of the fishery resource, the seriousness of the offences and will provide a more effective deterrent to potential violators. The upgraded fines will also be more in line with fishery fines in other provinces and fines for similar offences under other federal legislations.

Benefits and Costs

The Contraventions Regulations have become an essential element in decriminalizing certain federal offences, in reducing the workload of the court system and in improving the enforcement of federal legislation. Deleting prescribed offences from the Ontario Fishery Regulations, 1989, and designating them under the Contraventions Regulations will simplify the former Regulations and improve for the provincial government the economic efficiency and effectiveness of the ticketing process for these offences. No new restrictions or burdens will be imposed on individuals or businesses. The increased fines will be more appropriate and proportionate to the seriousness of the violation.

This amendment to the Ontario Fishery Regulations,1989, will not result in costs to the provincial government. On the contrary, the process under the Contraventions Act which incorporates the prosecutorial regime found in the Provincial Offences Act of Ontario will enable the provincial government to save approximately $10,000 per year in court costs and will prove less time consuming for Ontario Conservation Officers.

Consultation

This amendment was pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on September 27, 2003, for a 30-day consultation period. No comments were received during that consultation period.

Furthermore, over the past year, the Ministry of Natural Resources of Ontario has undertaken, on behalf of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, public consultations on the proposal to designate under the Contraventions Regulations offences prescribed under the Ontario Fishery Regulations,1989 and to upgrade the level of fines for those contraventions. The Ministry prepared and distributed a "Questions and Answers" document explaining the proposed changes and the list of proposed offences and fines. It was then made available to the public:

•  at District Offices of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources;

•  in the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources 2001 Recreational Fishing Regulations Summary which is distributed freely throughout the province and via the new Canada wide sport fishing Web site, SportfishingCanada.com;

•  on the province's Environmental Bill of Rights Web site;

•  on the Ministry of Natural Resources of Ontario, Fish and Wildlife Branch Web site;

•  at a Fishing Show in February 2003 and at the Toronto Sportsmans' Show in March 2003;

•  in writing to the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (April 2001) outlining the proposed amendments and inviting comments; and

•  in writing to Ontario Aboriginal Organizations with an explanation of the proposed changes and an invitation to present any concerns.

Although all groups contacted were encouraged to comment on the proposal and were given information on the many methods for providing their comments, the Ministry of Natural Resources of Ontario received no negative comments to the proposed shift to the Contraventions Regulations or to the upgrade of fine levels, other than requests for minor clarifications.

Compliance and Enforcement

Compliance with these amendments to the Contraventions Regulations is not an issue as they merely serve to provide enforcement officers with a more efficient way of using an existing tool to enforce the Ontario Fishery Regulations, 1989. These amendments simply designate as contraventions under the Act some offences under the Ontario Fishery Regulations, 1989 and set the applicable fines for them. The upgraded fine levels will hopefully serve to deter potential violators and thus encourage compliance with the Ontario Fishery Regulations, 1989.

Contact

For further information concerning the Contraventions Regulations, please contact:

Jean-Pierre Baribeau
Legal Counsel
Contraventions Project
Department of Justice
284 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0H8
Telephone: (613) 941-4880
FAX: (613) 998-1175
E-mail: jean-pierre.baribeau@justice.gc.ca

For further information concerning the offences created by regulations under the Ontario Fishery Regulations, 1989, please contact:

Sharon Budd
Regulatory Analyst
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
200 Kent Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0E6
Telephone: (613) 993-0982
FAX: (613) 990-2811
E-mail: Budds@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

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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