An Act to amend the Railway Safety Act and to make consequential amendments to the Canada Transportation Act (S.C. 2012, c. 7)
Full Document:
Assented to 2012-05-17
Marginal note:2001, c. 29, s. 69
25. Subsection 32.1(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Request for review
32.1 (1) A person who is sent a notice under section 32 that contains an order may, on or before the date specified in the notice or within any further time that the Tribunal on application allows, file a written request for a review of the order.
Marginal note:2001, c. 29, s. 69
26. Section 32.5 of the English version of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:When alteration or revocation effective
32.5 An alteration or revocation under section 32.4 has effect when the company or other person to whom notice of the order under section 32 was sent receives notice of the alteration or revocation.
Marginal note:1999, c. 9, s. 26(1)
27. (1) Subsection 33(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Minister may send emergency directives
33. (1) If the Minister is of the opinion that there is an immediate threat to safe railway operations or the security of railway transportation, the Minister may, by emergency directive sent to a company, order it
(a) either absolutely or to the extent specified in the directive, to stop using the kind of railway works or railway equipment or following the maintenance or operating practice that poses the threat; or
(b) to follow a maintenance or operating practice specified in the directive if the threat is posed by the company’s failure to follow that practice.
Marginal note:1999, c. 9, s. 26(2)
(2) Subsections 33(4) to (6) of the English version of the Act are replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Minister may rescind emergency directives
(4) The Minister may, by notice sent to the company, rescind an emergency directive, in which case the directive ceases to have effect.
Marginal note:Inconsistency between emergency directives, regulations, rules or orders
(5) In the event that there is an inconsistency between an emergency directive and a regulation made under subsection 18(1) or (2.1) or a rule in force under section 19 or 20, the emergency directive prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.
Marginal note:Minister may renew emergency directives
(6) The Minister may, before the expiration of the period during which an emergency directive has effect, by notice sent to the company, renew the directive for a further specified period commencing on the expiration of the previous period and not exceeding six months and, if the Minister does so, this section, except this subsection, applies to the directive as renewed.
28. Subsection 34(2) of the English version of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Orders of railway safety inspectors
(2) For the purpose of enabling an order contained in a notice served on a company or person by a railway safety inspector to be enforced as an order of a court under this section, the Minister may, by notice sent to that company or person, confirm that order, and that order after that has effect as an order of the Minister.
Marginal note:1999, c. 9, s. 27
29. (1) Subsection 35(2) of the French version of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Avertissement médical
(2) Le médecin ou l’optométriste qui a des motifs raisonnables de croire que son patient occupe un tel poste doit, si à son avis l’état de l’intéressé risque de compromettre cette sécurité, en informer sans délai, par avis écrit motivé, tout médecin ou optométriste désigné par la compagnie de chemin de fer, après avoir pris des mesures raisonnables pour en informer d’abord son patient. Le patient est présumé avoir consenti à cette communication et une copie de l’avis lui est transmise sans délai.
(2) Subsection 35(4) of the French version of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Utilisation des renseignements
(4) La compagnie de chemin de fer peut faire, des renseignements communiqués aux termes du paragraphe (2), l’usage qu’elle estime nécessaire pour la sécurité ferroviaire.
Marginal note:1999, c. 9, s. 29
30. Section 37 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Power to require information
36. The Minister may order that a company provide, in the specified form and within the specified period, information or documents that he or she considers necessary for the purposes of ensuring compliance with this Act and with the regulations, rules, orders, standards and emergency directives made under this Act.
Marginal note:Maintenance and production of safety records
37. (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) respecting the keeping and preservation by each company of information, records and documents relevant to the safety of railway operations conducted by that company, including a complete set of the regulations, emergency directives, rules and orders made pursuant to this Act that are applicable to that company;
(b) respecting the filing with the Minister at the request of the Minister of information, records and documents kept and preserved pursuant to regulations made under paragraph (a); and
(c) respecting notification to the Minister by companies of information suitable for monitoring safety performance or predicting potential changes in levels of safety, including information about any accident or incident associated with railway safety or any situation that could have a detrimental impact on safety performance.
Marginal note:Application
(2) A regulation made under this section may be general or applicable to a group or class of companies.
31. The Act is amended by adding the following after section 40:
Administrative Monetary Penalties
40.1 The Governor in Council may, by regulation,
(a) designate as a provision the contravention of which may be proceeded with as a violation in accordance with sections 40.13 to 40.22,
(i) any provision of this Act or the regulations, or
(ii) any rule, standard, order or emergency directive made under this Act; and
(b) prescribe the maximum amount payable for each violation, not to exceed
(i) $50,000, in the case of an individual, and
(ii) $250,000, in the case of a corporation.
Marginal note:Designation of enforcement officers
40.11 (1) The Minister may designate persons, or classes of persons, as enforcement officers.
Marginal note:Certification of enforcement officers
(2) Every person designated as an enforcement officer under subsection (1) shall receive an authorization in prescribed form attesting to the person’s designation and shall, on demand, present the authorization to any person from whom the enforcement officer requests information in the course of the enforcement officer’s duties.
Marginal note:Entry
(3) For the purposes of determining whether a violation referred to in section 40.13 has been committed, a person designated as an enforcement officer under subsection (1) may enter any place, other than a private dwelling-place, where activities are carried on that relate directly or indirectly to the construction or operation of a railway or the operation of railway equipment.
Marginal note:Production of documents
(4) For the purposes of determining whether a violation referred to in section 40.13 has been committed, a person designated as an enforcement officer under subsection (1) may require any person to produce for examination or reproduction all or part of any document or electronically stored data that the enforcement officer believes on reasonable grounds contain any information relevant to that determination.
Marginal note:Assistance to enforcement officers
(5) Any person from whom documents or data are requested under subsection (4) shall provide all reasonable assistance in their power to enable the enforcement officer making the request to carry out the enforcement officer’s duties and shall furnish any information that the enforcement officer reasonably requires for the purposes of this Act.
Marginal note:Notices of violation
40.12 The Minister may establish the form and content of notices of violation.
Marginal note:Violation
40.13 (1) Every person who contravenes a provision designated under paragraph 40.1(a) commits a violation and is liable to a penalty not exceeding the maximum amount prescribed under paragraph 40.1(b).
Marginal note:Continuing violation
(2) A violation that is committed or continued on more than one day constitutes a separate violation for each day on which it is committed or continued.
Marginal note:How contraventions may be proceeded with
(3) If a contravention of a provision designated under paragraph 40.1(a) may be proceeded with as a violation or as an offence, proceeding with it in one manner precludes proceeding in the other.
Marginal note:Nature of violation
(4) For greater certainty, a violation is not an offence and accordingly section 126 of the Criminal Code does not apply in respect of a violation.
Marginal note:Issuance of notice of violation
40.14 When a person designated by the Minister under subsection 40.11(1) believes on reasonable grounds that a person has committed a violation, he or she may issue and serve on the person a notice of violation that names the person, identifies the violation and sets out
(a) the penalty for the violation that the person is liable to pay; and
(b) particulars concerning the time for and manner of paying the penalty and the procedure for requesting a review.
Marginal note:Payment of specified amount precludes further proceedings
40.15 If a person served with a notice of violation pays the amount specified in the notice in accordance with the particulars set out in the notice, the Minister shall accept the amount as and in complete satisfaction of the amount of the penalty for the contravention and no further proceedings under this Act shall be taken against the person in respect of that contravention.
Marginal note:Request for review of determination
40.16 (1) A person served with a notice of violation that wishes to have the facts of the alleged contravention or the amount of the penalty reviewed shall, on or before the date specified in the notice — or within any further time that the Tribunal on application may allow — file a written request for a review with the Tribunal.
Marginal note:Time and place for review
(2) On receipt of a request filed under subsection (1), the Tribunal shall appoint a time and place for the review and shall notify the Minister and the person that filed the request of the time and place in writing.
Marginal note:Review procedure
(3) The member of the Tribunal assigned to conduct the review shall provide the Minister and the person that filed the request with an opportunity consistent with procedural fairness and natural justice to present evidence and make representations.
Marginal note:Burden of proof
(4) The Minister has the burden of establishing that a person has committed a violation.
Marginal note:Person not compelled to testify
(5) A person alleged to have committed a violation is not required to give evidence.
Marginal note:Failure to pay
40.17 A person that fails to pay the amount of the penalty specified in a notice of violation within the specified time and that does not file a request for a review is deemed to have committed the contravention alleged in the notice.
Marginal note:Determination by Tribunal member
40.18 At the conclusion of a review, the member of the Tribunal who conducts the review shall without delay inform the Minister and the person alleged to have committed a violation
(a) that the person has not committed a violation, in which case, subject to section 40.19, no further proceedings under this Act shall be taken against the person in respect of the alleged violation; or
(b) that the person has committed a violation and, subject to any regulations made under paragraph 40.1(b), of the amount that must be paid to the Tribunal by or on behalf of the person and the time within which it must be paid.
Marginal note:Right of appeal
40.19 (1) Within 30 days after a determination is made under section 40.18, the Minister or the person to whom it applies may appeal from the determination to the Tribunal.
Marginal note:Loss of right of appeal
(2) A party that does not appear at a review hearing is not entitled to appeal a determination, unless they establish that there was sufficient reason to justify their absence.
Marginal note:Disposition of appeal
(3) The appeal panel of the Tribunal assigned to hear an appeal may dispose of the appeal by dismissing it or by allowing it and, in allowing the appeal, the panel may substitute its decision for the determination.
Marginal note:Finding of violation
(4) If the appeal panel finds that a person has committed a violation, the panel shall without delay inform the person and the Minister of the finding and, subject to any regulations made under paragraph 40.1(b), of the amount determined by the panel to be payable to the Tribunal by or on behalf of the person in respect of the violation.
Marginal note:Certificate
40.2 The Minister may obtain from the Tribunal or the member, as the case may be, a certificate in the form established by the Governor in Council setting out the amount of the penalty required to be paid by a person who fails, within the time required,
(a) to pay the amount of a penalty set out in a notice of violation or to file a request for a review under section 40.16;
(b) to pay an amount determined under paragraph 40.18(b) or file an appeal under section 40.19; or
(c) to pay an amount determined under subsection 40.19(4).
Marginal note:Registration of certificate
40.21 (1) On production in any superior court, a certificate issued under section 40.2 shall be registered in the court and, when so registered, a certificate has the same force and effect, and proceedings may be taken in connection with it, as if it were a judgment in that court obtained by Her Majesty in right of Canada against the person named in the certificate for a debt of the amount set out in the certificate.
Marginal note:Recovery of costs and charges
(2) All reasonable costs and charges attendant on the registration of the certificate are recoverable in like manner as if they had been certified and the certificate had been registered under subsection (1).
Marginal note:Amounts received deemed public moneys
(3) An amount received by the Minister or the Tribunal under this section is deemed to be public money within the meaning of the Financial Administration Act.
Marginal note:Time limit for proceedings
40.22 Proceedings in respect of a violation may not be instituted later than 12 months after the time when the subject matter of the proceedings arose.
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