I'm not a lawyer, but I've taken the trouble to reread the act. It's precisely on this subject that I'd like to know the opinion of Justice Canada and, among others, that of the Public Prosecution Service.
The new section 50.6 provides as follows:
50.6 The court may impose a fine that is less than a minimum amount provided for in section 50 or 50.3, as the case may be, if it is satisfied, on the basis of evidence submitted to the court, that the minimum fine would cause undue financial hardship. The court shall provide reasons if it imposes a fine that is less than the minimum amount provided for in any of those sections.
Does that mean that, under the act, these minimum fines that are being increased, but that will nevertheless be very small, could be avoided by the offender? A loophole in the act in fact enables the offender to do so where he can show that the fine, even if it is very small, would cause him undue financial hardship. Isn't section 50.6 a weak link, a loophole for polluters?