Vol. 145, No. 25 — December 7, 2011
Registration
SOR/2011-276 November 24, 2011
CONTRAVENTIONS ACT
Regulations Amending the Application of Provincial Laws Regulations
P.C. 2011-1354 November 24, 2011
His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice, pursuant to section 65.1 (see footnote a) of the Contraventions Act (see footnote b), hereby makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Application of Provincial Laws Regulations.
REGULATIONS AMENDING THE APPLICATION OF PROVINCIAL LAWS REGULATIONS
AMENDMENTS
1. Subsection 1(1) of Part V of the schedule to the Application of Provincial Laws Regulations (see footnote 1) is amended by striking out “and” at the end of paragraph (a), by adding “and” at the end of paragraph (b) and by adding the following after paragraph (b) :
- (c) the French Language Services Actof Prince Edward Island, R.S.P.E.I. 1988, c. F-15.1, and any regulations made under that Act.
2. Part V of the schedule to the Regulations is amended by adding the following after section 2:
3. The enactments made applicable by this Part shall be read as if section 530 and paragraphs 530.1(a) to (h) of the Criminal Code, with such modifications as the circumstances require, were contained in those enactments.
COMING INTO FORCE
3. 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.)
Issue and objectives
This amendment to Part V (Prince Edward Island) of the Schedule to the Application of Provincial Laws Regulations (the Regulations) purports to make the provincial French Language Services Act applicable to the prosecution of federal contraventions, and to protect languages rights of offenders at trial.
Description and rationale
The Contraventions Act (the Act) provides an alternative to the summary conviction process of the CriminalCode for the prosecution of federal offences that are designated as contraventions. The Act was amended in 1996 to allow the use of provincial and territorial offence procedures and processes for the prosecution of federal contraventions. Pursuant to section 65.1 of the Act, the Regulations identify for a province or territory those laws pertaining to the prosecution of that province’s or territory’s offences that will apply, with some adaptations, to the prosecution of federal contraventions committed within its jurisdiction.
The first amendment adds the French Language Services Act, R.S.P.E.I. 1988, c. F-15.1, of Prince Edward Island to the other laws applicable to the prosecution of federal contraventions in the province and already included in the Regulations — the Summary Proceedings Act, R.S.P.E.I. 1988, c. S-9, and the Victims of Crime Act, R.S.P.E.I. 1988, c. V-3.1. Only a few sections of the French Language Services Act are in force, but they represent a first step in the governmental offer of services to the French community of the province.
The second amendment confirms in the Regulations that the quasi-constitutional language rights of offenders at trial are protected. In order to respond to the spirit of the Federal Court judgment in Canada (Commissioner of Official Languages) v. Canada (Minister of Justice) 2001 F.C.R. 239, a federal regulation must specify that an offender has the same language rights at trial for an offence under Prince Edward Island’s penal scheme as he or she has under the summary conviction process of the Criminal Code. This provision is the same for all provinces and is added gradually in all the schedules to the Regulations when language clauses are inserted in implementation agreements with the provinces about the contraventions scheme.
These two amendments do not generate any additional costs to the Government of Canada or to the Government of Prince Edward Island.
Consultation
This amendment was prepared in close co-operation with officials of the Office of the Attorney General of Prince Edward Island. They agree with its content. No public consultation was held given the administrative nature of these amendments.
Implementation, enforcement and service standards
No new means of implementation or enforcement will be required as these amendments do not confer any additional power. The current mechanisms for enforcing federal statutes and regulations will continue to be used in the province.
Contact
Louise Bégin
Legal Counsel
Contraventions Act Implementation Management
Department of Justice
275 Sparks Street, Room 5015
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0H8
Telephone: 819-770-2204
Fax: 613-946-3106
Email: louise.begin@justice.gc.ca
Footnote a
S.C. 1996, c. 7, s. 37
Footnote b
S.C. 1992, c. 47
Footnote 1
SOR/96-312