Thank you very much.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and honourable members of the committee.
I am pleased to appear before you today to provide information about the role of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, or PPSC, in prosecuting offences under the Fisheries Act and its regulations.
Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that the land on which I am speaking is located on the unceded territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin nation, which has been present in this place since time immemorial.
I will start by taking a little time to talk about the PPSC. It is a national, independent and accountable prosecuting authority whose main objective is to prosecute federal offences. As set out in the Director of Public Prosecutions Act, the Director of Public Prosecutions acts under and on behalf of the Attorney General of Canada in, among other things, initiating and conducting prosecutions, advising law enforcement agencies and issuing guidelines to prosecutors on the conduct of prosecutions.
The PPSC has approximately 600 federal prosecutors and several hundred private sector agents. It has regional offices in all major cities in Canada, and in the three territories. It also has dedicated regulatory and economic crimes prosecutions teams across the country who prosecute offences pursuant to over 75 regulatory and economic statues and regulations, including the Fisheries Act.
Along with conducting prosecutions, PPSC prosecutors provide advice and support to regulatory enforcement agencies through training initiatives and bilateral meetings. Prosecutors also provide advice to our regulatory partners at the investigation stage and receive support from them at the trial stage. This regular collaboration with our regulatory partners promotes dialogue and improves investigations and prosecutions.
Prosecutors contribute directly to the safety and security of Canadians. They play a key role in the criminal justice system by serving a truth-seeking function in criminal proceedings, as the role of the prosecutor is not to seek a conviction at all costs. At the same time, Crown counsel must be strong and effective advocates. Our role is to effectively lay before a trier of fact credible evidence relevant to an alleged offence firmly and to its legitimate strength, but also fairly.
Prosecutors act independently in conducting prosecutions and advising investigative agencies. This independence ensures that justice is impartial and that cases are handled based on facts without improper interference.
In conducting prosecutions, PPSC prosecutors are guided by the rules and guidelines in our PPSC desk book, which is publicly available. It sets out the principles that all federal prosecutors must follow in the exercise of their prosecutorial discretion.
An important guideline in our desk book is guideline 2.3 with respect to the decision to prosecute. This guideline was updated in 2023, prompted by an ongoing assessment of our policies that focused on providing clear guidance to prosecutors on how to be more proactive and conscious about recognizing bias, discrimination and other factors that contribute to overrepresentation in the criminal justice system.
As set out in guideline 2.3, to determine whether a prosecution should proceed, we ask ourselves whether there is a reasonable prospect of conviction and whether it is in the public interest to prosecute. This is our decision-to-prosecute test. If the charges do not satisfy both parts of this test at any point in time in the prosecution, the prosecutor will end the prosecution.
Each file is always assessed individually based on the specific circumstances of the case. All persons charged with offences, including Fisheries Act offences, can expect the PPSC to conduct prosecutions in a manner that is equitable, objective and independent.
Thank you.