Attorney General may participate

(2) The Attorney General is entitled to participate in the action, either as a party or otherwise. Notice of a decision of the Attorney General to participate must be given to the plaintiff and the public registry within 45 days after the copy of the originating document is served on the Attorney General.

Right of appeal

(3) The Attorney General is entitled to appeal from a judgment in the action and to make submissions and present evidence in an appeal.

Other participants

65. (1) The court may allow any person to participate in an endangered species protection action in order to provide fair and adequate representation of the private and public interests involved, including governmental interests.

Manner and terms of participation

(2) The court may determine the manner and terms of the person's participation, including the payment of costs.

Burden of proof

66. The burden of proof in an endangered species protection action is on a balance of probabilities.

Defence of due diligence

67. (1) The defence of due diligence in complying with this Act, the regulations or an emergency order is available in an endangered species protection action.

Other defences not excluded

(2) This section does not limit the availability of any other defence.

Undertakings to pay damages

68. In deciding whether to dispense with an undertaking to pay damages caused by an interlocutory order, the court in an endangered species protection action may consider any special circumstances, including whether the action is a test case or raises a novel point of law.

Remedies

69. If a court finds that the plaintiff is entitled to judgment in an endangered species protection action, it may grant any relief mentioned in subsection 60(3).

Orders to negotiate corrective measures

70. (1) A court order to negotiate corrective measures with respect to significant harm caused by an offence may include the following measures to the extent that they are reasonable, practical and ecologically sound:

    (a) measures for the prevention, reduction or elimination of the harm or the risk of harm;

    (b) measures to assist in the recovery of the species involved and its habitat; and

    (c) the payment of money by the defendant, as the court may direct to achieve the purposes of the measures.

Before making the order, the court must take into account any efforts that the defendant has already made to deal with the harm or risk of harm.

Other orders

(2) The court may also make interlocutory or ancillary orders to ensure that the negotiation of the corrective measures runs smoothly, including orders

    (a) for the payment of the costs of negotiation;

    (b) requiring any party to prepare a draft of the measures; and

    (c) setting a time limit for the negotiations.

Appointment of other person to prepare measures

(3) The court may appoint a person who is not a party to prepare draft corrective measures if the parties cannot agree on the measures or the court is not satisfied with the measures that they negotiate.

Order to prepare other measures

(4) The court may order the parties to prepare other corrective measures if it is not satisfied with the measures that they negotiate.

Approval and effective date

(5) The court may approve corrective measures that the parties negotiate or corrective measures prepared by a person appointed under subsection (3) and the approved measures come into effect on a day determined by the court.

Restriction on orders to negotiate corrective measures

71. A court may not order the negotiation of corrective measures if it determines that

    (a) the objectives mentioned in paragraphs 70(1)(a) to (c) have already been achieved; or

    (b) corrective measures that meet the same objectives have already been ordered under this Act or any other law in force in Canada.

Settlement or disconti-
nuance

72. An endangered species protection action may be settled or discontinued only with the approval of the court and on terms that it considers appropriate.

Settlements and orders binding

73. If an endangered species protection action results in a final order of a court or a settlement approved by a court,

    (a) the resolution of any question of fact by the order or settlement is binding on a court in any other endangered species protection action in which it arises; and

    (b) no other endangered species protection action may be brought with respect to the facts of the offence dealt with by the order or settlement.

Costs

74. In deciding whether to award costs in an endangered species protection action, the court may consider any special circumstances, including whether the action is a test case or raises a novel point of law.

Evidence of offence

75. (1) In an endangered species protection action, the record of proceedings in any court in which the defendant was convicted of an offence is evidence that the defendant committed the offence.

Certificate evidence of conviction

(2) In the action, evidence that a defendant was convicted of an offence may be given by a certificate stating with reasonable particularity the defendant's conviction and sentence.

Signature on certificate

(3) The certificate must be signed by

    (a) the judge or other person who made the conviction; or

    (b) the clerk of the court in which the conviction was made.

Once it is proved that the defendant is the offender mentioned in the certificate, it is evidence without proof of the signature or the official character of the person appearing to have signed it.

Civil remedies not affected

76. (1) No civil remedy for any conduct is suspended or affected by reason only that the conduct is an offence.

Remedies not repealed, etc.

(2) Nothing in this Act may be interpreted so as to repeal, remove or reduce any remedy available to any person under any law in force in Canada.

OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENT

Contraven-
tions

77. (1) Every person who contravenes sections 31 to 33 or any prescribed provision of a regulation or an emergency order

    (a) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and is liable

      (i) in the case of a corporation, to a fine not exceeding $300,000, and

      (ii) in the case of any other person, to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both; or

    (b) is guilty of an indictable offence and is liable

      (i) in the case of a corporation, to a fine not exceeding $1,000,000, and

      (ii) in the case of any other person, to a fine not exceeding $250,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or to both.

A regulation or emergency order may prescribe which of its provisions may give rise to an offence.

Subsequent offence

(2) If a person is convicted of an offence a second or subsequent time, the amount of the fine for the subsequent offence may, despite subsection (1), be double the amount set out in that subsection.

Continuing offence

(3) A person who commits or continues an offence on more than one day is liable to be convicted for a separate offence for each day on which the offence is committed or continued.

Fines cumulative

(4) A fine imposed for an offence involving more than one animal, plant or other organism may be calculated in respect of each one as though it had been the subject of a separate information and the fine then imposed is the total of that calculation.

Additional fine

(5) If a person is convicted of an offence and the court is satisfied that monetary benefits accrued to the person as a result of the commission of the offence,

    (a) the court may order the person to pay an additional fine in an amount equal to the court's estimation of the amount of the monetary benefits; and

    (b) the additional fine may exceed the maximum amount of any fine that may otherwise be imposed under this Act.

Officers, etc., of corporations

78. If a corporation commits an offence, any officer, director or agent of the corporation who directed, authorized, assented to, or acquiesced or participated in, the commission of the offence is a 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 or convicted.

Offences by employees or agents

79. In any prosecution for an offence, it is sufficient proof of the offence to establish that it was committed by an employee or agent of the accused, whether or not the employee or agent is identified or has been prosecuted for the offence.

Defence of due diligence

80. No person may be found guilty of an offence if the person establishes that they exercised all due diligence to prevent its commission.

Venue

81. A prosecution for an offence may be instituted, heard and determined in the place where

    (a) the offence was committed;

    (b) the subject-matter of the prosecution arose;

    (c) the accused was apprehended; or

    (d) the accused happens to be, or is carrying on business.

Forfeiture

82. (1) If a person is convicted of an offence, the convicting court may, in addition to any punishment imposed, order that any seized thing by means of or in relation to which the offence was committed, or any proceeds of its disposition, be forfeited to Her Majesty.

Return if no forfeiture ordered

(2) If the convicting court does not order the forfeiture, the seized thing, or the proceeds of its disposition, must be returned to its lawful owner or the person lawfully entitled to it.

Retention or sale

83. If a fine is imposed on a person convicted of an offence, any seized thing, or any proceeds of its disposition, may be retained until the fine is paid or the thing may be sold in satisfaction of the fine and the proceeds applied, in whole or in part, in payment of the fine.

Orders of court

84. If a person is convicted of an offence, the court may, in addition to any punishment imposed and having regard to the nature of the offence and the circumstances surrounding its commission, make an order containing one or more of the following prohibitions, directions or requirements:

    (a) prohibiting the person from doing any act or engaging in any activity that could, in the opinion of the court, result in the continuation or repetition of the offence;

    (b) directing the person to take any action that the court considers appropriate to remedy or avoid any harm to any wildlife species that resulted or may result from the commission of the offence;

    (c) directing the person to publish, in any manner that the court considers appropriate, the facts relating to the commission of the offence;

    (d) directing the person to pay a responsible minister or the government of a province an amount for all or any of the cost of remedial or preventive action taken, or to be taken, by or on behalf of the responsible minister or that government as a result of the commission of the offence;

    (e) directing the person to perform community service in accordance with any conditions that the court considers reasonable;

    (f) directing the person to submit to the responsible minister, on application to the court by the responsible minister within three years after the conviction, any information about the activities of the person that the court considers appropriate;

    (g) requiring the person to comply with any other conditions that the court considers appropriate for securing the person's good conduct and for preventing the person from repeating the offence or committing other offences; and

    (h) directing the person to post a bond or pay into court an amount of money that the court considers appropriate for the purpose of ensuring compliance with any prohibition, direction or requirement under this section.

Suspended sentence

85. (1) If a person is convicted of an offence and the court suspends the passing of sentence under paragraph 731(1)(a) of the Criminal Code, the court may, in addition to any probation order made under that Act, make an order containing one or more of the prohibitions, directions or requirements mentioned in section 84.

Imposition of sentence

(2) If the person does not comply with the order or is convicted of another offence, within three years after the order is made, the court may, on the application of the prosecution, impose any sentence that could have been imposed if the passing of sentence had not been suspended.

Limitation period

86. (1) Proceedings by way of summary conviction in respect of an offence may be commenced at any time within, but not later than, two years after the day on which the subject-matter of the proceedings became known to the responsible minister.

Responsible minister's certificate

(2) A document appearing to have been issued by the responsible minister, certifying the day on which the subject-matter of any proceedings became known to the responsible minister, is admissible in evidence without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed the document and is proof of the matter asserted in it.

References to the responsible minister

(3) A reference to the responsible minister in this section includes a provincial minister if

    (a) the responsible minister has delegated responsibility for the enforcement of this Act, the regulations or an emergency order to the provincial minister; and

    (b) the offence is alleged to have been committed in that province.