Backgrounder

Overview of the Environmental Enforcement Bill

An Act to make amendments relating to the enforcement of, and to enact provisions respecting the enforcement of, certain Acts that relate to the environment, otherwise known as the Environmental Enforcement Bill, would amend nine existing Acts to ensure more effective enforcement of the laws that protect our national parks, our air, our land, our water, and Canada’s wildlife. 

In the past, the effectiveness of Canada’s environmental legislation and regulations has been hampered by the lack of an adequate enforcement regime.

The Environmental Enforcement Bill addresses the shortcomings of existing laws and puts in place a stronger enforcement regime that Canadians want for the protection of their environment and their health. 

It introduces stiffer fines and new sentencing powers and considerations, and strengthens the government’s ability to investigate and prosecute infractions to give Canadians an effective environmental enforcement regime. The legislative changes are accompanied by a range of other complementary measures as well.

Specific improvements proposed by the Bill

Fines. A new fine structure would be added to each of the nine Acts to set different fines for individuals, corporations, and ships.  Minimum fines would be stipulated for serious offences, and maximum fines would be increased.  Fines would be doubled for subsequent offences.  The bill would also direct all fines to the Environmental Damages Fund so they may be used to repair the harm done by offences.  

Sentencing. The bill would add a new clause to each Act to set out the fundamental purpose of sentencing. Purposes include deterrence, denunciation and restoration.  The bill would also identify factors that the courts would consider in sentencing, such as the nature of the damage, whether it was committed intentionally or recklessly, whether the perpetrator stood to benefit financially from the offence and whether attempts were made to conceal the offence after it was committed. The courts would also be able to issue orders, upon conviction of an offender, to cancel or suspend licenses and/or permits, and require corporations to inform shareholders about offences.

Enforcement Tools. The bill would create a public registry of corporate offenders, extend authority to issue compliance orders; and extend the use of analysts, experts who can assist in inspections and investigations.

Administrative Monetary Penalties. The bill would grant authority to develop administrative monetary penalties by regulation. Relatively modest fines could then be levied by officials against persons who commit less serious violations of environmental laws. This would lead to increased enforcement as it would provide an important alternative to full court action for less serious offences. 

Administrative monetary penalties would also ensure less serious infractions could be dealt with consistently across the country.  This is not currently possible, since enforcement officers do not have the authority to issue tickets in every province.

Legislative Changes

The bill would amend nine existing statutes that are administered by Environment Canada and the Parks Canada Agency:  the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999; the Canada Wildlife Act; the Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994; the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act;  the Antarctic Environmental Protection Act; theInternational River Improvements Act;the Canada National Parks Act; the Canada National Marine Conservation Areas Act; and the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park Act. 

The changes would include:

• Establishing minimum fines for the most serious offences and increasing maximum fines
• Creating different fine scales for different types of offenders.  For example, corporations would be subject to higher fines than individuals
• Providing sentencing guidance to courts so that environmental damages, prior convictions and other relevant factors are taken into account and treated as aggravating factors
• Establishing administrative penalties to address less serious environmental offences that are often not pursued because of the complexity and high costs of prosecution
• Directing fines towards the Environmental Damages Fund, from which they can be used by community based groups for environmental restoration or research projects.