Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to once again address some of the motions by members from the other side of the House in relation to the agriculture and agri-food administrative monetary penalties act.
The purpose of the bill is to allow for expedience and resolution to breaches of regulations in the agriculture and agri-food industry. It is designed to make it a lot easier for the department and those involved in breaches of regulations to resolve their difficulties.
It is designed to ensure we get compliance with the regulations as soon as is reasonably possible. The bill does not inhibit the rights of people accused of violating the respective statutes to have the option to gain the full procedural and substantive protection that can be gained from the law if they so choose to defend themselves in traditional fashion of court hearings and due process. This is still available to those who violate the act.
The purpose of Motion No. 20 according to hon. members opposite is to clarify that the minister and the Government of Canada carry the burden of proof in both the ministerial review and the review by the tribunal that the person named in the notice of violation committed the violation. This is certainly what the current wording of the bill provides for.
We have no objection to this amendment. This is another amendment the minister has accepted from members opposite. This shows a responsible attitude by the minister of agriculture in the sense that where there are amendments that enhance the act, where there are amendments that do not do any harm to what is sought to be accomplished by the act, regardless of who brings them forward, if they improve the legislation and make it a bit clearer, the government is certainly willing to hear them.
The legislation makes clear that the minister carries the burden of proof in both the ministerial review and the review by the tribunal that the person named in the notice of violation is the one who committed the violation. This goes back to one of the fundamental bases of the Canadian justice system of due process. The system is based on many administrative procedural protections granted to people who run afoul of regulatory or sometimes even criminal law.
Our common law system has always sought to protect those accused of violations, whether regulatory offences, criminal offences such as under the highway traffic act, provincial offences or somewhere in between. Our legal system always provides safeguards to the person accused of the violation commensurate with the penalty and the seriousness of the breach involved.
Our justice system on a very fundamental basis seeks to ensure innocent people are not convicted or not held responsible for violations they did not participate in. That is why even within the common law I do not think there is even any need to suggest the minister carry the burden of proof. The state in matters of breaches of criminal violations, regulatory violations and provincial statute violations always carries the burden of proof.
It is probably better that a few guilty people are acquitted rather than innocent people being subjected to the raw power, the sanction of the state when they were not guilty of what they were charged with.
In relation to the first motion, we are accepting it. The fundamental principles of Canadian law that the minister carry the burden of proof is simply a foregone conclusion and one we accept. This is not the case in all countries. Sometimes one is presumed guilty and must prove one's innocence. In Canada, the British Commonwealth system, the common law system, different considerations apply.
Motion No. 23 of Group No. 4 seeks to provide that no lobbyist or party to a contract with the Public Service of Canada shall be appointed as a member of the board or the tribunal.
The government in appointing individuals to these tribunals always appoints well qualified people who are known for their fairness so that people can trust the correctness of the decisions made by these tribunals. Each of these appointments is very carefully weighed. The people must be qualified in order to participate in these issues.
Once again common law clearly requires that people with a conflict of interest not serve on boards or tribunals such as this. As has been the track record of the minister to date in other appointments, as well as other ministers in other departments, the people sought to be placed in positions like this are qualified people. They will carry out their duties in a manner that will respect the government and also the people accused of various violations of agriculture and agri-food penalties.
No one in a conflict of interest will end up on these tribunals. They are quasi-judicial bodies and as a result will have to be above reproach. Common law provides many administrative remedies that could be taken through the courts should there be any reasonable apprehension of bias or other grounds on which the decision of the appointed person could be put in question.
People with these types of connections will simply not be appointed. If a situation arises in which there could be any type of conflict whatsoever, administrative law procedures are available through the courts to ensure people who are being judged in this fashion are fully protected.
While Motion No. 20 says exactly what the bill says and follows the philosophy and basic underpinnings of the law in Canada, the minister will be accepting a recommendation to further clarify and ensure the law is clear and known.
With respect to the second motion, this will be taken care of in the same manner the government has done to date. Remedies are available to anyone who feels aggrieved by a decision, who feels there may be a problem, to deal through the courts with such an issue.
I again thank the minister for his efforts in bringing these changes forward, changes that will certainly improve the-