Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in support of Bill C-61.
This bill adds to the enforcement option available to certain legislation administered by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada by allowing administrative monetary penalties to be imposed. The bill also authorizes the minister, if requested, to conclude compliance agreements with persons who commit violations.
Under compliance agreements, administrative monetary penalties can be reduced or cancelled if persons agree to take the appropriate steps to ensure future compliance with agri-food acts and regulations. The administrative monetary penalties are subject to review by an independent tribunal. Now every contravention can currently be prosecuted.
The bill gives the minister an administrative option where prosecution is seen to be too harsh a measure. In arriving at his decision the minister will be guided by a compliance and
enforcement policy-I underline the word policy because it gives broader perspectives-that establishes the criteria to guide the department in making decisions on the use of all enforcement controls or options.
The policy is a public document. The choice to be made by the minister of whether to prosecute or issue a monetary penalty is akin to a prosecutorial choice. It is such as we would find in a criminal case in which the decision is made as to whether a matter should proceed by way of indictment or by summary conviction. Because the choice is heavily dependent upon the facts in each situation, flexibility is required. This flexibility is best offered by relying on policy rather than regulations.
It has always been the intention to administer this bill in a reasonable manner. We on this side of the House are happy to accept this approach to the bill. However, compliance agreements form an integral part of the proposed scheme. The object of the scheme is to obtain compliance rather than to penalize the violator. It is a common sense approach to bring those who are the users into a compliance mode without using the heavy hand of the law or penalties.
By authorizing the department to enter into these agreements the bill gives the department a tool to negotiate the implementation by industry of measures that would change the violator's practices and processes. The emphasis here is on change. At the same time, the violator may pay a reduced penalty in exchange for committing funds to effect the necessary improvements leading to future compliance. The bill provides that kind of flexibility.
Compliance agreements result in immediate corrective action which is the desired result of the bill. Of course, immediate corrective action leads to a better product, improved health and safety, and more effective enforcement. Compliance agreements are optional and no one is forced to enter into them. The bill provides an incentive to enter into compliance agreements by making it possible to reduce the amount of monetary penalty.
The nature of the bill is to achieve compliance. For those who do not comply and who are found out, they are counselled into compliance. If they do not comply, the second stage is enacted. The nature of the bill is to encourage people to comply.
Current maximum penalties are relatively modest. The bill does not make a distinction between first and subsequent violations for the purpose of setting a maximum penalty that could be assessed. However, the regulations will determine a base penalty amount and the range and circumstances under which the penalties may be increased or reduced. The regulations will determine a base penalty amount and the range and circumstances. The compliance history will be one of the factors set out in the regulations whereby penalties will be reduced for violators with no previous history of non-compliance. Again, it is the nature of the action. If there is a perceived resistance to compliance the enforcement of the regulation is the only tool the government has.
Penalty amounts may be increased or decreased based on the degree of intention or negligence on the part of the person who committed the violation, the amount of harm done by the violation, and the compliance history of the person who committed the violation. Flowing through this is a series of steps that is known in law as the law of natural justice. Was this a one-shot affair? Was there fair warning? Was there counselling? That is the rule of the land in our country: no one is caught out the first time. In that sense it shows fairness. If it is not fair, the person who is charged has the right to appeal.
I had the opportunity to sit through the clause by clause deliberations in committee. A number of very good concerns were raised, mainly by the opposition but from the government side as well. I see that some of them have been incorporated in this bill. It speaks for the bill having some input from members who are not of the government party.
I see this adhering to the laws of natural justice and due process is outlined clearly in this bill. I would like to review a few points in the bill that may give it a bit more light.
Bill C-61 allows for issuance of monetary penalties on the basis of absolute liability; that is, where the department needs only to prove that an alleged violator committed an act that is in violation of the regulations. The bill does not allow a defence of due diligence by which a violator can avoid liability by establishing that he or she was not negligent.
Under Bill C-61 there is no possibility of imprisonment, no record of conviction for an offence is created, and penalties are modest rather than punitive in nature. Because of these factors, there is no constitutional or other legal impediment to proceeding on the basis of absolute liability.
From a policy perspective, the use of absolute liability is essential to encourage the food industry to exhibit a high standard of care, which the people of Canada expect. This is important for matters involving the food chain and consistent with the approach the courts take in civil cases. The concept of absolute liability is important to the effectiveness of the system as a preventative measure.
Let me give an example of the standards necessary in the food chain. To someone with peanut allergies, even a minute amount of peanut dust is enough to send them into an anaphylactic shock. To such a person, the issue is not whether a company exercised due diligence. When we see the breakout of products, even when we have HP sauce included, it is far more detailed than any other country I know of in this world. As a preventative measure, finding
that a product is mislabelled in not indicating the presence of peanuts in itself warrants finding liability. That is presently in the law.
The focus of Bill C-61 is on preventative and remedial action and not in finding of fault. The use of absolute liability is also provided for in an effective and efficient enforcement system.
The resource base for enforcing regulations is shrinking. Bill C-61 deliberately designs a simple and efficient system to deal with those importers or domestic companies that do not follow our health, safety, and quality regulations. It is worth mentioning that although the due diligence defence does not apply, other common law defences are available to a person to whom the notice of violation is issued.
Bill C-61 is in my judgment a fair bill, presented and debated openly in committee. It follows the natural laws of justice and includes due process. On that basis, I give my full support to this bill.