Bill 122, Polar Bear Protection Act, 2003

Versions

Bill 122 2003

An Act to provide
protection for polar bears

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Definitions

Definitions

1. In this Act,

"licence" means a licence issued under this Act; ("permis")

"licensed activity" means an activity for which a person requires a licence; ("activité autorisée")

"licensee" means the holder of a licence; ("titulaire de permis")

"Minister" means the Minister of Natural Resources or whatever other member of the Executive Council to whom the administration of this Act is assigned under the Executive Council Act; ("ministre")

"Ministry" means the Ministry of the Minister; ("ministère")

"polar bear" means all species and subspecies of Ursus maritimus; ("ours polaire")

"regulations" mean the regulations made under this Act. ("règlements")

Licences

Licence required

2. No person shall possess a polar bear or export or attempt to export a polar bear from Ontario unless the person holds a licence.

Application for licence

3. (1) A person may apply to the Minister for the issuance of a licence.

Grounds for licence

(2) The Minister shall not issue a licence to an applicant unless the applicant pays the fee prescribed by the regulations and the Minister is satisfied that,

(a) the applicant requires a polar bear for a legitimate scientific, educational or conservation purpose or another purpose prescribed by the regulations;

(b) the polar bear that is the subject of the licence meets the requirements specified in the regulations as to when a polar bear may be placed in captivity; and

Address for service

4. (1) Every applicant for a licence shall state in the application an address for service in Ontario.

Change in address

(2) A licensee who changes an address for service shall notify the Minister in writing within five days of making the change.

Service

(3) All notices under this Act are sufficiently given or served if sent by registered mail or delivered to the latest address for service given under this section.

Conditions

5. (1) A licence is subject to,

(a) the conditions that relate to a licensed activity and that are specified in the regulations; and

(b) the conditions that relate to a licensed activity and that the Minister specifies in the licence, if they do not conflict with the regulations.

Compliance

(2) A licensee shall comply with the conditions to which the licence is subject.

No transfers

(3) A licence is not transferable.

Suspension and revocation of licence

6. The Minister may suspend or revoke a licence if the Minister is satisfied that,

(a) the licensee has contravened a condition of the licence or a requirement imposed on the licensee by this Act or the regulations; or

(b) the regulations authorize the Minister to suspend or revoke the licence for another reason.

Care of polar bears

7. A licensee who holds a licence with respect to a polar bear shall,

(a) keep the bear in a facility that meets the standards specified in the regulations and provide the bear with the care that meets the standards specified in the regulations;

(b) use the bear only for the purposes specified in the licence;

(d) if the Minister is satisfied that the licensee has breached the licence and provides written notice to the licensee, release the bear as specified by the Minister or transfer it to a facility specified by the Minister;

(e) comply with the procedure specified in the licence regarding the release or transfer of the bear, if the licensee becomes unable or unwilling to keep the bear;

(f) pay all costs relating to a release or transfer of the bear described in clause (d) or (e);

(g) comply with all other requirements that the regulations specify relating to the care and treatment of the bear.

Investigations and Enforcement

Investigators

8. (1) The Minister may appoint any person to be an investigator for the purpose of determining whether there is compliance with this Act, the regulations or the terms of a licence.

Certificate of appointment

(2) The Minister shall issue to every investigator a certificate of appointment, bearing the Minister's signature or a facsimile of it.

Police officers

(3) Police officers, by virtue of office, are investigators for the purposes of this Act and the regulations, but subsection (2) does not apply to them.

Proof of appointment

(4) Every investigator who exercises powers under this Act shall, upon request, produce the certificate of appointment as an investigator or identification as a police officer, as the case may be.

Investigation

9. (1) An investigator may, without warrant or court order, enter and inspect any premises or conveyance in accordance with this section if,

(a) the investigator has reasonable grounds to believe that the premises or conveyance is used for the purpose of carrying on a licensed activity; and

(b) the investigator is conducting the investigation for the purpose of determining whether a person is carrying on a licensed activity in accordance with this Act and the regulations.

Powers of investigator

(2) In an investigation under this section, an investigator may,

(a) demand the production of any thing used in carrying on a licensed activity or any books, records or other documents relevant to the subject-matter of the investigation or copies or extracts from the books, records or other documents;

(b) inquire into all information, records and other matters that are relevant to a licensed activity or other thing used in carrying on a licensed activity;

(d) use any data storage, processing or retrieval device or system belonging to the persons being inspected in order to produce a record in readable form of any books, records or other documents relevant to the subject-matter of the inspection.

Entry to dwellings

(3) An investigator shall not, without the consent of the occupier, exercise a power to enter a place that is being used as a dwelling, except under the authority of a search warrant issued under section 158 of the Provincial Offences Act.

Time for entry

(4) An investigator shall exercise the power to enter a premises or conveyance under this section only during reasonable hours for the premises or conveyance.

No obstruction

(5) No person shall obstruct an investigator who is exercising powers under this section or provide an investigator with false or misleading information.

Assistance

(6) An investigator who exercises powers under this section may,

(a) call on any person for whatever assistance the investigator considers necessary to accomplish what the investigator is empowered to do;

(b) call for the assistance of any member of the Ontario Provincial Police or the municipal police force in the area where the assistance is required to preserve the peace.

Person assisting

(7) A person assisting an investigator in exercising powers under this section has the powers of an investigator while acting under the direction of the investigator.

Police

(8) It is the duty of every member of a police force called to render assistance under clause (6) (b) to render the assistance.

Written demand

(9) A demand for books, records or other documents or copies or extracts from them under subsection (2) shall be in writing and shall include a statement of the nature of the things that are required to be produced.

Obligation to assist

(10) If an investigator makes a demand for any thing under subsection (2), the person having custody of the thing shall produce it to the investigator and, at the request of the investigator, shall provide whatever assistance is reasonably necessary, including using any data storage, processing or retrieval device or system to produce a record in readable form, if the demand is for a document.

Removal of documents

(11) If a person produces books, records and other documents to an investigator, the investigator may, on issuing a written receipt, remove them and may,

(a) review or copy any of them; or

(b) bring them before a justice, in which case section 159 of the Provincial Offences Act applies.

Return of documents

(12) The investigator shall carry out any reviewing or copying of books, records and documents with reasonable dispatch, and shall forthwith after the reviewing or copying return them to the person who produced them.

Admissibility of copies

(13) A copy certified by an investigator as a copy made under clause (11) (a) is admissible in evidence to the same extent, and has the same evidentiary value, as the thing copied.

Offences

10. (1) A person who contravenes this Act or the regulations is guilty of an offence.

Corporations

(2) If a corporation commits an offence under this Act, an officer, director, employee or agent of the corporation who directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in or participated in the commission of the offence is party to and guilty of the offence and is liable on conviction to the punishment provided for the offence, whether or not the corporation has been prosecuted for the offence.

Penalties

(3) A person convicted of an offence under this Act is liable to,

(a) a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for a term of not more than six months or both for each day or part of a day on which the offence occurs or continues, in the case of an individual;

(b) a fine of not more than $50,000 for each day or part of a day on which the offence occurs or continues, in the case of a corporation.

General

Crown liability

11. (1) Except in the case of an application for judicial review or an action or proceeding that any Act or regulation under this or any other Act specifically provides with respect to a person mentioned in this subsection, no action or other proceeding for damages or otherwise shall be instituted against any of the following persons for any act done in good faith in the execution or intended execution of any duty or authority under this Act or for any alleged neglect or default in the execution in good faith of that duty or authority:

1. An employee of the Ministry.

2. A Crown employee within the meaning of the Public Service Act.

3. An investigator who is exercising powers under section 9.

4. A person who is assisting an investigator in exercising powers under section 9.

Same

(2) Subsection (1) does not, by reason of subsections 5 (2) and (4) of the Proceedings Against the Crown Act, relieve the Crown of liability in respect of a tort committed by an agent or servant of the Crown to which it would otherwise be subject.

Regulations

12. The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,

(a) prescribing or specifying anything that is described as prescribed or specified in the regulations;

(b) respecting licences, including the fee and any information or documentation that an applicant is required to submit with an application for a licence;

(d) specifying the reasons for which the Minister may suspend or revoke a licence under clause 6 (b);

(e) requiring licensees to keep records relating to the licensed activity that they carry on and to submit reports to the Minister on the records at the times that the Minister requires;

(f) respecting any matter necessary or advisable to carry out effectively the purposes of this Act.

Commencement

13. This Act comes into force on a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor.

Short title

14. The short title of this Act is the Polar Bear Protection Act, 2003.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill enacts the Polar Bear Protection Act, 2003. The Act requires a person to have a licence issued by the Minister responsible for the administration of the Act in order to possess a polar bear or export or attempt to export a polar bear from Ontario. The Act sets out standards for the care and treatment of polar bears for which a person holds a licence.

The Minister may appoint investigators to enter and inspect any premises or conveyance to determine if a licensee is complying with the Act and the regulations made under it. It is an offence to contravene the Act or the regulations.