Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members. On behalf of the PPSC, I am pleased to have this opportunity to address this committee in its continuing examination of Bill C-16, the Environmental Enforcement Act.
Joining me is Erin Eacott, a front-line prosecutor with our Edmonton regional office. Ms. Eacott has considerable experience prosecuting offences under some of the statutes that would be amended by Bill C-16.
With your permission, I'd like to make a brief opening statement to frame our discussion. Since the PPSC is a new organization, I propose to provide you with a bit of background on its creation, its mandate, the services it currently provides in relation to environmental investigations and prosecutions, and how we expect Bill C-16 to impact upon current PPSC operations.
The PPSC was created on December 12, 2006 with the coming into force of the Director of Public Prosecutions Act, which forms Part 3 of the Federal Accountability Act.
The PPSC replaced the division of the Department of Justice that previously conducted federal prosecutions. The deputy head of the PPSC reports directly to the Attorney General of Canada and is known as the Director of Public Prosecutions, or DPP.
Our enabling legislation, the Director of Public Prosecutions Act, outlines the powers, duties and responsibilities of the PPSC. Its mandate is simple—to prosecute criminal offences within the jurisdiction of the Attorney General of Canada on behalf of the federal Crown in a manner that is independent of any improper influence and respects the public interest.
In addition, the act mandates us to provide advice to law enforcement agencies such as Environment Canada and Parks Canada Agency in respect of investigations that may lead to prosecutions.
Providing legal advice during a criminal investigation ensures that investigative techniques and procedures are consistent with the evolving rules of evidence and Charter protections.
Our role as legal adviser to investigative agencies is distinct from the investigative roles they perform. The PPSC is not an investigative agency and our prosecutors are not investigators. Although prosecutors provide advice during the course of an investigation, prosecutors do not initiate, direct, or supervise investigations. They do not gather evidence; that is the role of Environment Canada and Parks Canada agency enforcement officers.
Prosecutors and enforcement officers exercise separate and independent roles in Canada. Enforcement officers decide whether to commence an investigation, who to investigate, how to investigate, and whether to lay charges at the end of an investigation. This separation between investigative and prosecutorial authority is well entrenched in Canadian law.
Once charges are laid by the enforcement officer, the prosecutor must decide whether to proceed with the prosecution. The test we use is as follows. The prosecutor examines the evidence to see whether there is a reasonable prospect of conviction. If there is, then he or she decides whether, in light of the provable facts and the whole of the surrounding circumstances, the public interest requires the prosecution to be pursued. If the prosecutor is not satisfied that the prosecution should proceed, he or she can put an end to it by withdrawing or staying the charges.
In exercising prosecutorial discretion, our prosecutors are guided by a desk book. This document, called The Federal Prosecution Service Deskbook, is available publicly through the PPSC's website.
In four jurisdictions in Canada, namely Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, and New Brunswick, there is a practice of pre-charge approval in environmental matters. In those jurisdictions, prosecutors exercise their discretion to prosecute once the investigation is completed but before the charges are laid. We apply the same test in pre-charge jurisdictions as we apply in post-charge jurisdictions, except that we must be satisfied the test is met before the police or the investigative agency lays the charges.
I turn now to address the operational impact of Bill C-16 on the PPSC.
Many of the statutes proposed to be amended will include mandatory minimum fines that must be imposed upon a conviction. In addition to mandatory minimum fines, the increase in the maximum penalties, doubling of fines for repeat offenders, mandatory additional fines for economic advantage gained, cumulative and per day fines, purpose clauses, sentencing principles and aggravating factors, are strong signals to the courts that these offences are very serious.
Greater penalties, improved powers to fashion creative remedies in sentencing, and the ability to revoke operating licences, will, we believe, add complexity and lengthen sentencing proceedings. There may also be constitutional challenges to this legislation.
In summary, we anticipate more trials, increased complexity of proceedings, and many more investigations due to the increased number and efforts of the enforcement officers. In terms of implementing Bill C-16, our prosecutors will continue to advise enforcement officers during their investigations and will inform the court on the intent of Parliament in passing the Environmental Enforcement Act. Our prosecutors will advocate firmly but fairly for principled sentences based on the law and the evidence before the court.
Thank you for the opportunity to address the committee. I would be pleased to answer any questions you may have.