What Does a Contravention Mean?
Under the Code, licensees must comply with "on-the-ground" regulatory requirements and follow strict planning rules to ensure timber harvesting, road construction and other forest practices are carried out in a way that will adequately manage and conserve forest resources. Licensees must also reforest harvested areas, maintain and deactivate forest roads, and do whatever is necessary to rehabilitate areas that have been disturbed by their activities. The risk of failure is always borne by the licensees. Any failure to meet a Code requirement - even when the failure is not the licensee's fault - is a contravention. For example, under the Code a major licensee must reforest harvested areas. Any failure to do so is a contravention of the Code - even if the failure is due to weather, insect infestation, or other factors beyond the licensee's control. As a result, the question of fault is important in selecting appropriate enforcement actions. If the licensee is not at fault, as in the case of the licensee who fails to reforest an area due to weather or insect infestation, administrative remedies are used to ensure the licensee does not profit from the contravention, and either fixes the problem or compensates the Crown. If the licensee is at fault, administrative remedies can also be used to deter any recurrence. In cases of serious contraventions licensees may also be prosecuted for an offence.
What does it mean if a licensee is given a monetary penalty?
Monetary penalties are one of the administrative remedies available under the Code. The fact that a licensee has been assessed a monetary penalty means that a senior government official has determined that the licensee has failed to meet a requirement of the Code. Monetary penalties (like other administrative remedies such as stopwork orders and remediation orders) are used to ensure the licensee bears the risk of any failure to meet a Code requirement. They can also be used as a disciplinary measure if the failure is caused by carelessness or misconduct. However, monetary penalties should not be confused with fines that can be imposed by a Court if a licensee is prosecuted and convicted for an offence.
When are licensees held accountable?
Licensees are always accountable for any contravention of the Code. Any licensee who contravenes the Code - even one whose conduct is entirely blameless - may be required to remedy the contravention or to compensate the Crown for the contravention. Administrative remedies, including monetary penalties, are used to ensure this is done. In addition, such remedies are used to ensure the licensee does not profit from the contravention. Finally, if a contravention of the Code occurs as a result of carelessness or misconduct on the part of the licensee, increased monetary penalties can be imposed as a disciplinary measure and the licensee may be denied harvesting rights (this option is often referred to as performance based harvesting). In cases of serious contraventions, the licensee may also be prosecuted for an offence.
When are Prosecutions Recommended?
Where investigations identify the person(s) responsible for unauthorized harvest, theft or any other contravention of the Code, is willful or significantly negligent, the person is a repeat offender, or there has been significant damage, and it is in the public interest to prosecute, it is common for either the ministry or RCMP to recommend to Crown Counsel that the person(s) be prosecuted. The final decision as to whether or not to prosecute lays solely with the Crown Counsel (the Ministry of Attorney General) involved.
Unauthorized Harvest Statistics
Since the Code was implemented three years ago, there have been 267 monetary penalties levied for unauthorized harvest of Crown timber.
Penalties for unauthorized harvesting range from $59.26 for one case up to $206,795.51 for another, and total up to $1,483,075.57. During the same period, there have been 133 Violation Tickets issued for various incidents of unauthorized harvesting, with fines totaling $19,950.00.
