Vol. 140, No. 51 — December 23, 2006

Regulations Amending the Contraventions Regulations

Statutory authority

Contraventions Act

Sponsoring department

Department of Justice

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

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 by means 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 and 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.01 of the Contraventions Regulations purports to designate as a contravention the offence of contravening a condition on a snare permit issued pursuant to subsection 24(3) of the Canada National Parks Act. It also designates as contraventions several offences under the Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve of Canada Snowshoe Hare Regulations. The prescribed fines for these contraventions range from $50 to $200 and are consistent with fines for corresponding offences under Quebec hunting regulations and similar contraventions to other national parks regulations.

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 by amending consequently these Regulations. There are no other options.

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 are not creating new offences. They are only designating existing offences as contraventions, giving a short-form description of these offences and providing the applicable fines.

Contact

For further information concerning the proposed amendment to the Contraventions Regulations, please contact Jean-Pierre Baribeau, Legal Counsel, Contraventions and Contracts Management Division, Department of Justice, 275 Sparks Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8, 613-941-4880 (telephone), 613-998-1175 (fax), jean-pierre.baribeau@justice.gc.ca (email).

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 Jean-Pierre Baribeau, Legal Counsel, Contraventions and Contracts Management Division, Department of Justice, 275 Sparks Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8.

Ottawa, December 14, 2006

MARY O'NEILL
Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE CONTRAVENTIONS REGULATIONS

AMENDMENTS

1. Part I of Schedule I.01 to the Contraventions Regulations (see footnote 1) is renumbered as Part I.002.

2. Schedule I.01 to the Regulations is amended by adding the following before Part I.002:

PART I

Canada National Parks Act

Item	Column I Provision of Canada National Parks Act	Column II Short-Form Description	Column III Fine ($)
1.	24(3)	Contravening a condition of a snare permit issued under the Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve of Canada Snowshoe Hare Regulations	100

PART I.001

Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve of Canada Snowshoe Hare Regulations

Item	Column I Provision of Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve of Canada Snowshoe Hare Regulations	Column II Short-Form Description	Column III Fine ($)
1.	5	Snaring snowshoe hare without a permit	200
2.	6	Possessing snowshoe hare without a permit	100
3.	8(3)	Failing to sign a permit on receipt	50
4.	11(a)	(a) Transferring a permit	50
		(b) Assigning a permit	50
5.	11(b)	Using a snare other than one that is constructed of metallic wire	100
6.	11(c)	Setting a snare in a manner capable of capturing an animal other than a snowshoe hare	200
7.	11(d)	Setting more snares than the maximum number of snowshoe hares that may be snared	100 plus 10 per snare exceeding maximum
8.	11(e)	Baiting a snare	100
9.	11(f)	(a) Cutting flora while snaring	100
		(b) Damaging flora while snaring	100
10.	11(g)	Leaving a snare unattended for more than 48 hours	100
11.	11(h)	Snaring snowshoe hare in a closed area	200
12.	11(i)	Removing the tag attached to the snowshoe hare before the hare is prepared for human consumption	50
13.	12(a)	(a) Failing to carry a permit when snaring snowshoe hare	50
		(b) Failing to carry a permit when in possession of snowshoe hare	50
14.	12(b)	Failing to immediately produce for examination snares, snowshoe hares in their possession or snare permit	200
15.	12(c)	Failing to attach a tag to each snowshoe hare using specified method	50 plus 10 per snowshoe hare not tagged using specified method
16.	12(d)	Failing to report, without delay, any accidental capture	100
17.	12(e)	Failing to reduce the number of snares	100
18.	13(1)	(a) Failing to remove snares when the limit of snowshoe hare has been reached or within 48 hours after expiry of the permit	200
		(b) Failing to remove snaring line indicators and trail indicators when the limit of snowshoe hare has been reached or within 48 hours after expiry of the permit	150
19.	14(1)	Failing to return permit within 60 days after its expiry	100
20.	14(2)	Failing to record the prescribed information on the back of the permit	100

COMING INTO FORCE

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

[51-1-o]

Footnote a

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

Footnote b

S.C. 1992, c. 47

Footnote 1

SOR/96-313

NOTICE:
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