Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act (S.C. 1998, c. 25)

Violations

Marginal note:Who may issue notices

144.12 Inspectors are authorized to issue notices of violation.

Marginal note:Violation and penalty

• 144.13 (1) Every person who contravenes or fails to comply with a provision, order, direction, decision, term or condition designated under paragraph 144.11(1)(a) commits a violation and is liable to a penalty in the amount that is determined in accordance with the regulations.

• Marginal note:Purpose of penalty

  (2) The purpose of the penalty is to promote compliance with this Act and not to punish.

Marginal note:Liability of directors, officers, etc.

144.14 If a corporation commits a violation, any director, officer or agent or mandatary of the corporation who directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in or participated in the commission of the violation is a party to the violation and is liable to a penalty in the amount that is determined in accordance with the regulations, whether or not the corporation has been proceeded against in accordance with this Act.

Marginal note:Proof of violation

144.15 In any proceedings under this Act against a person in relation to a violation, it is sufficient proof of the violation to establish that it was committed by an employee or agent or mandatary of the person, whether or not the employee or the agent or mandatary is identified or proceeded against in accordance with this Act.

Marginal note:Issuance and service of notice of violation

• 144.16 (1) If an inspector has reasonable grounds to believe that a person has committed a violation, the inspector may issue a notice of violation and cause it to be served on the person.

• Marginal note:Contents

  (2) The notice of violation shall

  • (a) name the person who is believed to have committed the violation;

  • (b) set out the relevant facts of the violation;

  • (c) set out the amount of the penalty;

  • (d) inform the person of their right to request a review with respect to the facts of the violation or the amount of the penalty, and of the period within which that right shall be exercised;

  • (e) inform the person of the time and manner of paying the penalty; and

  • (f) inform the person that, if they do not pay the penalty or exercise their right referred to in paragraph (d), they are considered to have committed the violation and are liable to the penalty.

• Marginal note:Copy of notice of violation

  (3) The inspector shall, without delay after issuing the notice of violation, provide a copy of it,

  • (a) with respect to a violation relating to Part 3, to the board that may act as the review body and the federal Minister; or

  • (b) with respect to a violation relating to Part 5, to the federal Minister and

    • (i) the board that has jurisdiction over a management area, if the development is carried out wholly within that management area; or

    • (ii) the board established under Part 4, if the development is carried out in more than one management area, in a management area and an area outside any management area, or wholly outside any management area.

Rules About Violations

Marginal note:Certain defences not available

• 144.17 (1) A person named in a notice of violation does not have a defence by reason that the person

  • (a) exercised due diligence to prevent the commission of the violation; or

  • (b) reasonably and honestly believed in the existence of facts that, if true, would exonerate the person.

• Marginal note:Common law principles

  (2) Every rule and principle of the common law that renders any circumstance a justification or excuse in relation to a charge for an offence under this Act applies in respect of a violation to the extent that it is not inconsistent with this Act.

Marginal note:Continuing violation

144.18 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:Violation or offence

• 144.19 (1) Proceeding with any act or omission as a violation under this Act precludes proceeding with it as an offence under this Act, and proceeding with it as an offence under this Act precludes proceeding with it as a violation under this Act.

• Marginal note:Violations not offences

  (2) 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:Limitation period

144.2 No notice of violation is to be issued more than two years after the day on which the federal Minister becomes aware of the acts or omissions that constitute the alleged violation.

Reviews

Marginal note:Request for review

144.21 A person who is served with a notice of violation may, within 30 days after the notice is served or within any longer period prescribed by the regulations, make a request to the review body for a review of the facts of the violation or the amount of the penalty, or both.

Marginal note:Correction or cancellation of notice of violation

144.22 At any time before a request for a review in respect of a notice of violation is received by the review body, an inspector may cancel the notice of violation or correct an error in it.

Marginal note:Review

144.23 On receipt of a request for a review in respect of a notice of violation, the review body shall conduct the review.

Marginal note:Witnesses

• 144.24 (1) If the review body is a board, it may, when conducting its review, summon any person to appear as a witness and order the witness to give evidence orally or in writing and produce any documents and things that it considers necessary for the purpose of the review.

• Marginal note:Enforcement of summonses and orders

  (2) Any summons issued or order made under subsection (1) may be made a summons or an order of the Federal Court or of the superior court of a province and is enforceable in the same manner as a summons or an order of that court.

• Marginal note:Procedure

  (3) To make a summons issued or an order made under subsection (1) a summons or an order of the Federal Court or of the superior court of a province, the usual practice and procedure of the court in such matters may be followed or a certified copy of the summons or order may be filed with the court’s registrar and the summons or order then becomes a summons or an order of that court.

• Marginal note:Fees for witnesses

  (4) A witness who is served with a summons is entitled to receive the fees and allowances to which persons who are summoned to appear as witnesses before the Federal Court are entitled.

Marginal note:Determination

• 144.25 (1) The review body shall determine, as the case may be, whether the person committed the violation or whether the amount of the penalty for the violation was determined in accordance with the regulations, or both.

• Marginal note:Correction of penalty

  (2) If the review body determines that the amount of the penalty for the violation was not determined in accordance with the regulations, the review body shall correct it.

• Marginal note:Review of facts — burden of proof

  (3) If the facts of a violation are reviewed, the inspector who issued the notice of violation shall establish, on a balance of probabilities, that the person named in it committed the violation identified in it.

• Marginal note:Written reasons

  (4) The review body shall make a determination in writing, with reasons, and cause it to be served on the person who requested the review.

• Marginal note:Determination final — board

  (5) A determination made under this section by a board acting as a review body is final and binding and, except for judicial review under section 32, is not subject to appeal or to review by any court.

• Marginal note:Determination final — federal Minister

  (6) A determination made under this section by the federal Minister acting as a review body is final and binding and, except for judicial review under the Federal Courts Act, is not subject to appeal or to review by any court.

• Marginal note:Liability

  (7) If the review body determines that the person who requested the review committed the violation, the person who requested the review is liable to the penalty as set out in the determination.

• Marginal note:Copy of determination

  (8) The review body shall, without delay after making the determination, provide a copy of it to

  • (a) the federal Minister, if the review body is a board; or

  • (b) the board to which a copy of the notice of violation was provided under subsection 144.16(3), if the review body is the federal Minister.

Responsibility

Marginal note:Payment

144.26 If a person pays the penalty set out in a notice of violation, the person is considered to have committed the violation and proceedings in respect of it are ended.

Marginal note:Failure to act

144.27 A person who neither pays the penalty within the period set out in the notice of violation — nor requests a review within the period referred to in section 144.21 — is considered to have committed the violation and is liable to the penalty.

Recovery of Penalties

Marginal note:Debt due to Her Majesty

• 144.28 (1) A penalty constitutes a debt due to Her Majesty in right of Canada and may be recovered as such in any court of competent jurisdiction.

• Marginal note:Limitation period or prescription

  (2) No proceedings to recover the debt are to be instituted more than five years after the day on which the debt becomes payable.