Bill 102, Asian Longhorn Beetle Confinement Act, 2004

Versions

Bill 102 2004

An Act to limit
the spread of the
Asian longhorn beetle

CONTENTS


Definitions
1.	Definitions
Prohibition Against Transporting Infested Firewood
2.	Prohibition
Investigations
3.	Investigators
4.	Investigation without warrant
5.	Disposal of infested firewood
General
6.	Non-compellable witness
7.	Crown liability
8.	Service
9.	Offences
10.	Regulations
11.	Commencement
12.	Short title
______________

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,

"investigator" means an investigator appointed under section 3; ("enquêteur")

"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")

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

Prohibition Against Transporting Infested Firewood

Prohibition

2. No person shall transport firewood infested with the Asian longhorn beetle.

Investigations

Investigators

3. (1) The Minister may appoint any person to be an investigator for the purpose of determining whether a person has complied with this Act or the regulations.

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 without warrant

4. (1) An investigator may, without warrant or court order, conduct an investigation in accordance with this section if the investigator does so for the purpose of determining whether a person has contravened or failed to comply with this Act or the regulations.

Powers of investigator

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

(a) stop, detain, enter and inspect a conveyance if the investigator has reasonable grounds to believe that a person is using it to contravene section 2;

(b) enter and inspect any premises in accordance with this section if the investigator has reasonable grounds to believe that a person is using it to assist in contravening section 2 or that it contains evidence of such a contravention;

(d) demand the production for inspection of any thing relevant to the investigation;

(e) 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 the records and other matters produced in response to a demand mentioned in clause (d);

(f) in accordance with the regulations, seize or detain any thing relevant to the investigation if the thing is capable of being seized or detained;

(g) in accordance with the regulations and at the risk and expense of the owner, examine, test, analyse, take samples of or dispose of samples of any firewood to determine if it is infested with the Asian longhorn beetle; or

(h) in accordance with the regulations, delay, for the time necessary to complete the inspection, the transportation of any firewood.

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.

Written demand

(5) A demand for things 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.

No obstruction

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

Assistance

(7) 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

(8) 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

(9) It is the duty of every member of a police force called to render assistance under clause (7) (b) to render the assistance.

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 things

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

(a) review or copy any of them or part of them; or

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

Return of things seized

(12) The investigator shall carry out any reviewing or copying of things with reasonable dispatch, and shall forthwith after the reviewing or copying return the things 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.

Disposal of infested firewood

5. (1) If, under section 4, an investigator seizes firewood and a test, sample or analysis of it shows that it is infested with the Asian longhorn beetle, the Minister shall ensure that,

(a) it is disposed of in accordance with the regulations and at the risk and expense of the owner; and

(b) the investigator gives written notice of the seizure and disposal, within 15 days of the disposal, to,

(i) every person whom the investigator knows or has reason to believe is an owner of the firewood, and

(ii) every person who has a security interest in the firewood that is perfected by registration under the Personal Property Security Act against the name of any person whom the investigator knows or has reason to believe is the owner.

Forfeiture

(2) Firewood disposed of in accordance with subsection (1) is forfeited to the Crown.

General

Non-compellable witness

6. No person employed in the administration or enforcement of this Act shall be required to give testimony in any civil proceeding, except in a proceeding under this Act, with regard to information obtained in the discharge of the person's duties.

Crown liability

7. (1) In this section,

"Crown appointee" means a person who is appointed under this Act but who is not a Crown employee within the meaning of the Public Service Act.

No liability

(2) No action or other proceeding shall be instituted against the Crown, the Minister or any employee of the Ministry,

(a) for any act done or neglect or default in the execution or intended execution of a power or duty under this Act by,

(i) a person who is not a Crown employee within the meaning of the Public Service Act and not a Crown appointee, or

(ii) a person who is assisting an investigator in exercising powers under section 4, if the investigator is not a Crown employee within the meaning of the Public Service Act or not a Crown appointee; or

(b) for any tort committed by a person described in clause (a) or an employee or agent of the person in relation to a power or duty described in that clause.

No personal liability

(3) 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. A Crown appointee.

4. A person who is assisting an investigator in exercising powers under section 4, if the investigator is a Crown employee within the meaning of the Public Service Act or a Crown appointee.

Crown liability

(4) Subsection (3) 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.

Service

8. (1) Any document given or served under this Act or the regulations is sufficiently given or served if it is,

(a) delivered personally;

(b) sent by mail addressed to the person to whom delivery or service is required to be made at the person's last known address; or

Service by mail

(2) If service is made by mail, it shall be deemed to have been made on the fifth day after the day of mailing unless the person on whom service is being made establishes that the person did not, acting in good faith, through absence, accident, illness or other cause beyond the person's control receive the document until a later date.

Offences

9. (1) Every person is guilty of an offence who contravenes or fails to comply with section 2 or subsection 4 (6) or (10).

Directors, officers

(2) If a corporation commits an offence under this Act, every director, officer, employee or other agent of the corporation who authorized, or who had the authority to prevent the offence from being committed but knowingly refrained from doing so, is a party to and guilty of the offence and is liable, on conviction, to the penalty for the offence, whether or not the corporation has been prosecuted or convicted.

Penalty

(3) A person who is guilty of an offence under this section is liable, on conviction,

(a) to a fine of not more than $50,000, if the person is an individual; and

(b) to a fine of not more than $500,000, if the person is not an individual.

Regulations

10. (1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,

(a) prescribing anything that is mentioned in this Act as being prescribed by the regulations;

(b) exempting any person or class of persons from any or all of the provisions of this Act and the regulations;

(c) specifying requirements that investigators must comply with when exercising powers under clause 4 (2) (f), (g) or (h);

(d) specifying requirements for the disposal of firewood infested with the Asian longhorn beetle;

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

Scope of regulations

(2) A regulation may be of general application or specific to any person or persons, class or classes or geographic area in its application.

Commencement

11. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

12. The short title of this Act is the Asian Longhorn Beetle Confinement Act, 2004.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill enacts an Act to prohibit persons from transporting firewood infested with the Asian longhorn beetle and creates an offence for doing so.

The Minister responsible for the administration of the Act may appoint investigators to make investigations to determine whether a person has failed to comply with the Act or the regulations made under it.