1st Session, 36th Parliament,
46 Elizabeth II, 1997

The House of Commons of Canada

BILL C-7

An Act to establish the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park and to make a consequential amendment to another Act

Preamble

WHEREAS the Governments of Canada and of Quebec recognize the necessity, both for the present and for future generations, of protecting the environment, the flora and fau na and the exceptional natural resources of a representative portion of the Saguenay River and the St. Lawrence estuary;

WHEREAS those Governments, on April 6, 1990, entered into an agreement for the pur pose of establishing a marine park there;

WHEREAS those Governments have agreed to cooperate to the greatest extent pos sible in the exercise of their respective pow ers;

AND WHEREAS each of the Parliament of Canada and the legislature of Quebec must en act legislation within its own jurisdiction for the establishment and management of a ma rine park;

NOW, THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as fol lows:

SHORT TITLE

Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park Act.

INTERPRETATION

Definitions

2. The definitions in this section apply in this Act.

``agreement''
« Entente »

``agreement'' means the agreement entered into on April 6, 1990 by the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec for the purpose of establishing the Saguenay- St. Lawrence Marine Park.

``enforcement officer''
« agent de l'autorité »

``enforcement officer'' means an officer or a member of a class of officers designated by the Minister as an enforcement officer for the purposes of this Act.

``Minister''
« ministre »

``Minister'' means the member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada who is designated by the Governor in Council as the Minister for the purposes of this Act.

``park''
« parc »

``park'' means the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park created by section 5.

``park warden''
« garde de parc »

``park warden'' means an officer employed under the Public Service Employment Act whose duties include the enforcement of this Act or the National Parks Act and who may be designated by the Minister as a park warden.

``Quebec minister''
« ministre du Québec »

``Quebec minister'' means the minister of the Government of Quebec responsible for the law of the Province of Quebec entitled An Act respecting the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park, chapter 16 of the Statutes of Quebec, 1997.

``superinten-
-
dent''
« directeur »

``superintendent'' means the officer employed under the Public Service Employment Act who holds the office of superintendent of the park, and includes any person employed under that Act and authorized by that officer to act on their behalf.

HER MAJESTY

Binding on Her Majesty

3. This Act is binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province.

PURPOSE

Purpose

4. The purpose of this Act is to increase, for the benefit of the present and future genera tions, the level of protection of the ecosystems of a representative portion of the Saguenay River and the St. Lawrence estuary for conservation purposes, while encouraging its use for educational, recreational and scientific purposes.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PARK

Park established

5. (1) The Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park, the boundaries of which are set out in the schedule, is hereby established.

Park zones

(2) The park is composed of four types of zone:

    (a) comprehensive preservation zones (Type I zones);

    (b) specific protection zones (Type II zones);

    (c) general protection zones (Type III zones); and

    (d) general use zones (Type IV zones).

CHANGE OF PARK BOUNDARIES

Change of park boundaries

6. (1) Subject to section 7, the Governor in Council may, by order, change the park boundaries set out in the schedule if

    (a) agreement has been reached between the Governments of Canada and Quebec; and

    (b) the Minister and the Quebec minister have jointly consulted with the public and the coordinating committee.

Limitation

(2) For greater certainty, any enlargement of the park may only extend over public lands of Quebec.

Notice of the proposed change to be tabled and referred to committee

7. (1) A notice of intention to make an order to change park boundaries shall be tabled in the House of Commons and, on being tabled, is referred to the committee of that House that normally considers national parks matters, or to any other committee to which the House refers matters for the purpose of this section, if the intention is to reduce the area of the park, or of any zone of the park, other than a reduction of the area of a Type III or Type IV zone by one square kilometre or less.

Considera-
tion by committee

(2) The committee shall report to the House of Commons whether it approves or disap proves the change and, on or after the next sitting day, a motion to concur in the report shall be put to the House in accordance with its procedures and disposed of without amend ment or debate.

Where proposed change rejected

(3) The proposed change shall not be made if the House of Commons concurs in a report disapproving the proposed order or does not concur in a report approving the order.

ADMINISTRATION OF PARK

Administra-
tion

8. (1) The administration, management and control of the park are under the direction and authority of the Minister.

Scientific research

(2) The Minister may conduct activities for the purpose of advancing scientific knowl edge of the park ecosystems.

Agreement with Quebec

(3) The Minister may enter into agreements with the Quebec minister or another minister of the Government of Canada for carrying out the purpose of this Act and for coordinating the activities permitted in the park.

Management plan

9. (1) The Minister shall, within one year after the coming into force of this Act, cause to be laid before each House of Parliament a management plan for the park that the Minis ter draws up jointly with the Quebec minister with respect to resource protection, zoning, visitor use and any other matters that the Minister considers appropriate.

Review of plan

(2) The Minister shall review the manage ment plan with the Quebec minister at least once every seven years, and shall cause any amendments to the plan to be laid with the plan before each House of Parliament.

Public participation

(3) The Minister shall, in cooperation with the Quebec minister, provide opportunities for public participation in the development of the management plan and any other matters that the Minister considers relevant.

Permits

10. (1) The Minister may issue, amend, suspend and cancel permits and other autho rizing instruments for the control of any activity in the park.

Delegation

(2) The Minister may authorize any person, or any member of a class of persons, to exercise any power mentioned in subsection (1).

SUPERINTENDENT, PARK WARDENS AND ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS

Powers and duties of superintenden t

11. The superintendent has and may exer cise the powers and perform the duties of the Minister under this Act that the Minister delegates to the superintendent.

Powers of park wardens

12. For the purposes of the preservation and maintenance of the public peace in the park, and the enforcement of this Act and any other federal Act that they may be authorized to enforce, both inside and outside the park, a park warden has the powers, duties and protection provided by law to peace officers.

Powers of enforcement officers

13. For the purpose of the enforcement of this Act, both inside and outside the park, enforcement officers have the powers, duties and protection provided by law to peace officers.

Entry

14. In the discharge of their duties, park wardens, enforcement officers and persons accompanying them may enter on and pass through and over private property without the owner of the property having the right to object to that use of the property.

HARMONIZATION COMMITTEE

Establish-
ment of committee

15. (1) A harmonization committee, made up of representatives of the Minister and the Quebec minister, is hereby established for the purposes of ensuring harmonization and im plementing the activities and programs of the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec with respect to the park, in particular with respect to the protection of ecosystems, planning, management, issuance of permits and other authorizations, consulta tion, the programming of activities, commu nications and the ways in which infrastruc tures, installations and equipment are to be shared.

Regulations

(2) The harmonization committee also is to harmonize draft regulations to be made under this Act and draft regulations that are to be made under the law of the Province of Quebec that creates the Saguenay-St. Lawrence Ma rine Park.

Representativ es of the Minister

(3) The Minister shall name his or her representative or representatives on the har monization committee.

COORDINATING COMMITTEE

Coordinating committee

16. (1) A coordinating committee is hereby established to make recommendations to the Minister and the Quebec minister on the measures to be taken in order to carry out the objectives of the management plan.

Composition

(2) The Minister, in cooperation with the Quebec minister, shall decide on the composi tion of the coordinating committee.

Representativ es of the Minister

(3) The Minister shall name his or her representative or representatives on the coor dinating committee.

REGULATIONS

Regulations

17. The Governor in Council may make regulations

    (a) for the protection, control and manage ment of the park;

    (b) for the protection of ecosystems, and any elements of ecosystems, in the park;

    (c) for the protection of the cultural re sources submerged in the park;

    (d) for public protection, health and safety inside the park;

    (e) setting out the characteristics of each type of zone in the park;

    (f) setting out the terms and conditions under which each type of zone may be used, the boundaries of each type of zone and any time limits respecting zones;

    (g) determining the conditions under which various activities may be undertaken in each type of zone in the park;

    (h) determining the activities that are prohibited in the park;

    (i) for the closing of park zones or for prohibiting activities in those zones;

    (j) authorizing the superintendent to prohib it or restrict activities that may be undertak en in park zones under paragraph (g) or to close park zones or prohibit access to those zones, despite any regulation made under this section, in order to protect park ecosys tems and elements of park ecosystems;

    (k) for the issuance, renewal, revocation and suspension of permits and other autho rizing instruments required to carry on any activity under this Act or the regulations, and any conditions of those permits and instruments;

    (l) for the determination of charges for the permits or other authorizing instruments required to carry on any activity under this Act or the regulations;

    (m) for limiting the number of persons who may hold the permits and authorizations at any one time;

    (n) prescribing offences in respect of which section 23 applies and the manner in which they may be described in tickets;

    (o) prescribing the amount of the fine for offences in respect of which section 23 applies, which amount shall not exceed $2,000;

    (p) determining the conditions under which aircraft may take off, fly over and land within park boundaries; and

    (q) in respect of any other matters that are necessary for carrying out the purposes of this Act.