8

 

 

First Session, 51st General Assembly

3 Charles III, 2026

BILL 8

AN ACT TO AMEND THE WILD LIFE ACT

Received and Read the First Time................................................................

Second Reading............................................................................................

Committee.....................................................................................................

Third Reading...............................................................................................

Royal Assent.................................................................................................

HONOURABLE PLEAMAN FORSEY

Minister of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands

Ordered to be printed by the Honourable House of Assembly

 

EXPLANATORY NOTES

This Bill would amend the Wild Life Act to

ˇ         amend the definition of fur bearing animal to include coyote;

ˇ         amend the definition of trafficking to include the illegal bartering, exchange, selling or trading of wild life;

ˇ         add a definition of vehicle;

ˇ         remove references to badges;

ˇ         remove the authority to make regulations to control and licence the sale of ammunition as it is regulated by the federal Firearms Act;

ˇ         clarify the language regarding the search powers of wild life officers;

ˇ         allow wild life officers to apply for a telewarrant;

ˇ         clarify the language regarding seizure and forfeiture;

ˇ         increase the amount of fines for offences under the Act and the regulations;

ˇ         add a limitation period for instituting proceedings in respect of an offence under the Act or regulations;

ˇ         replace references to the number "1" with the word "one"; and

ˇ         replace all references to "Trial Division" with the correct reference "Supreme Court".

A BILL

AN ACT TO AMEND THE WILD LIFE ACT

Analysis

        1.   S.2 Amdt.
Definitions

        2.   S.4 Amdt.
Terms defined

        3.   S.7 Amdt.
Regulations

        4.   S.13 Amdt.
Search

        5.   S.13.1 Added
Telewarrant

        6.   S.15 Amdt.
Seizure and confiscation

        7.   S.16 Rep.
Seizure and disposition

        8.   S.17 Amdt.
Application by person claiming interest

        9.   S.18 R&S
Offence and penalty

      10.   S.19 Amdt.
Personating wild life officer

      11.   S.21 R&S
Prohibition of waste

      12.   S.25 Amdt.
Non-resident

      13.   S.27 R&S
Penalty re: moose or caribou

      14.   S.29 Amdt.
Prohibition against holding hunting licence

      15.   S.31 Added
Limitation period

      16.   Commencement

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:    

RSNL1990 cW-8
as amended

        1. (1) Paragraph 2(d) of the Wild Life Act is repealed and the following substituted:

             (d)  "fur bearing animal" means wild life known as beaver, coyote, fisher, fox, lynx, marten, mink, muskrat, otter, squirrel, weasel, wolf and wolverine;

             (2)  Paragraph 2(n.1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

         (n.1)  "trafficking" means the illegal bartering, exchange, selling or trading of wild life;

             (3)  Section 2 of the Act is amended by adding immediately after paragraph (p) the following:

         (p.1)  "vehicle" means a device upon or in which a person or property may be transported or drawn over land, water, snow, ice, marsh, swampland and other natural terrain and includes an aircraft or air-cushioned vehicle;

 

        2. Paragraph 4(b) of the Act is amended by deleting the number "1" and substituting the word "one".

 

        3. (1) Paragraphs 7(1)(b) and (c) of the Act are repealed and the following substituted:

             (b)  to provide for the issue, suspension and cancellation of licences or permits to fish for, take or kill a fish and in the regulations provision may be made for the issue of those licences or permits with general application throughout the province or for the issue of different kinds of licenses or permits in different areas of the province, and of the restriction to a prescribed quota of those licences or permits issued in respect of specified areas of the province, and where the issue of licences or permits with respect to a specified area of the province is restricted to a prescribed quota, provision may be made for the issue of a prescribed percentage of that quota to a specified class of persons;

             (c)  to provide for the issue, suspension and cancellation of licences or permits to hunt, take, or kill wild life, either generally or subject to limitations as to quantities or numbers, and for the conditions which may be attached to those licences or permits or to which those licences or permits may be subject;

             (2)  Paragraph 7(1)(q) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

             (q)  to control and regulate the conduct of and the issue of licences to guides and other paid helpers;

             (3)  Paragraph 7(1)(u) of the Act is repealed.

 

        4. (1) Subsection 13(1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Search

      13. (1) A wild life officer may, at reasonable times and where it is reasonably necessary to determine compliance with this Act or the regulations, enter upon a premises or place or stop a vehicle and require the production of a licence or permit.

             (2)  Section 13 of the Act is amended by adding immediately after subsection (1) the following:

         (1.1)  Notwithstanding subsection (1), a wild life officer shall not enter a dwelling-house without the consent of the occupant except under the authority of a warrant issued under subsection (3) or section 13.1.

             (3)  Subsections 13(2) and (3) of the Act are repealed and the following substituted:

             (2)  Where a wild life officer believes on reasonable grounds that a person has contravened this Act or the regulations, a wild life officer may, with a warrant issued under subsection (3) or subsection 13.1(1), at a reasonable time, enter upon a premises, place or vehicle and may investigate, inquire into, inspect and examine anything in respect of which the investigation is being made.

             (3)  A Provincial Court judge who is satisfied by information upon oath or affirmation that there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is on a premises, place or vehicle

             (a)  anything on or in respect of which an offence under this Act or the regulations has been, or is suspected to have been, committed;

             (b)  anything that there are reasonable grounds to believe will give evidence with respect to an offence under this Act or the regulations or will reveal the whereabouts of a person who is believed to have committed an offence under this Act or the regulations; or

             (c)  property related to an offence,

may at any time issue a warrant authorizing a wild life officer to enter and search the premises, place or vehicle for the thing and seize it.

             (4)  Subsection 13(4) of the Act is amended by

             (a)  deleting the words "place, vehicle, aircraft, vessel, boat or raft" and substituting the words "place or vehicle"; and

             (b)  deleting the word "office" and substituting the word "officer".

 

        5. The Act is amended by adding immediately after section 13 the following:

Telewarrant

   13.1 (1) Where, in the opinion of a wild life officer, it would not be practical to appear before a Provincial Court judge to apply for a warrant, the wild life officer may make the application by telephone or other means of telecommunication.

             (2)  Where a wild life officer acts under the authority of a warrant obtained under this section, the wild life officer shall provide a facsimile of the warrant to the owner or person in charge of a premise, place or vehicle present at the time the warrant is carried out.

             (3)  In subsection (2), "facsimile" includes a record produced by electronic means or a written record of a telephone conversation made by both parties to the conversation while it is in progress and which the parties have confirmed as to its accuracy by reading their record of the conversation to one another at the end of the conversation.

 

        6. (1) Subsections 15(1) and (2) of the Act are repealed and the following substituted:

Seizure and confiscation

      15. (1) A wild life officer who has reasonable grounds to suspect that

             (a)  a material, implement, appliance or thing has been used;

             (b)  wild life has been taken, killed or possessed; or

             (c)  a gun or firearm is being stored or transported

in violation of this Act or the regulations may, on view, seize it and a paper, document or record in the possession of the person concerned at the time of the seizure and which in the wild life officer's opinion might give evidence of the commission of an offence under this Act or the regulations and other material, implement, appliance or thing in the possession of the person concerned at the time of seizure and capable of use in taking, killing, possessing, storing or transporting the kind of wild life with which the suspected use, taking, killing or possessing is connected, including a gun or firearm, silencer, trap, decoy, snare, light, dog team, vehicle, refrigerator, storage locker or container or electronic device or equipment.

             (2)  Anything seized under subsection (1) shall be retained in the custody of the wild life officer making the seizure or shall be delivered into the custody of the person that the minister directs.

             (2)  Subsection 15(11) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

          (11)  Anything seized under subsection (1), or the cash deposit or bond in respect of it made under subsection (9), or the proceeds realized, less expenses involved in the sale, from a sale under subsection (3), except a thing forfeited under subsection (8), shall be returned or paid to the person from whom the thing or cash deposit or bond was taken where no prosecution in respect of the alleged offence is instituted, and shall be returned or paid upon the expiration of 3 months from the day of the seizure unless before that time proceedings in respect of the alleged offence are instituted.

             (3)  Subsection 15(12) of the Act is amended by deleting the words "a forfeited item" and substituting the word "anything".

             (4)  Subsection 15(13) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

          (13)  Where anything has been seized under subsection (1), or a cash deposit or bond in respect of it has been made under subsection (9), and the proceedings in respect of the offence have been instituted, but the thing, cash deposit or bond or proceeds realized from a sale under subsection (3) are not at the conclusion of the proceedings ordered to be forfeited under subsections (5) or (6) and have not been forfeited under subsection (8), the thing, cash deposit or bond or proceeds of sale, less expenses involved in the sale, shall be returned or paid to the person from whom the thing was taken, or cash deposit or bond received, unless there has been a conviction and a fine imposed, in which case the thing may be detained until the fine is paid, or the cash deposit or bond made under subsection (9) or the proceeds realized from a sale of wild life or other perishable thing under subsection (3), less expenses involved in the sale, may be applied in or towards payment of the fine, and the cash deposit or bond not so applied may be paid to the person entitled to it out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

             (5)  Subsection 15(13.1) of the Act is amended by deleting the words "Trial Division" and substituting the words "Supreme Court".

 

        7. Section 16 of the Act is repealed.

 

        8. (1) Subsection 17(1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Application by person claiming interest

      17. (1) Where anything is seized under subsection 15(1) and forfeited to the Crown under subsection 15(5), (6), (7) or (8), a person other than a person convicted of the offence that resulted in the forfeiture or a person in possession of the thing when it was seized, who claims an interest in the thing as owner, mortgagee, lienholder or holder of a life interest may, within 30 days after the forfeiture, apply by written notice to a Provincial Court judge for an order under subsection (4).

             (2)  Subsection 17(5) of the Act is amended by deleting the words "Trial Division" and substituting the words "Supreme Court".

             (3)  Paragraph 17(9)(b) of the Act is amended by deleting the words "Trial Division" and substituting the words "Supreme Court".

 

        9. Section 18 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Offence and penalty

      18. A person who obstructs or resists a wild life officer, licensed guide or warden while the wild life officer, licensed guide or warden is engaged in exercising the powers or discharging the duties conferred or imposed under this Act or the regulations is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $25,000 and in default of payment to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 9 months.

 

      10. Subsection 19(1) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Personating wild life officer

      19. (1) A person who

             (a)  falsely represents to be a wild life officer; and

             (b)  not being a wild life officer, uses a badge or article of uniform or equipment in a manner that is likely to cause persons to believe that the person is a wild life officer

is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $25,000 and in default of payment, to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 6 months.

 

      11. Section 21 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Prohibition of waste

      21. A person who, having taken or killed wild life appropriate for food, wilfully or intentionally allows its flesh to be destroyed, wasted or spoiled, and a person who, having taken or killed a fur bearing animal, wilfully or intentionally allows their skins to be destroyed, wasted or spoiled, is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not less than $500 and not more than $25,000 and, in default of payment, to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 3 months.

 

      12. Subsection 25(1) of the Act is amended by deleting the number "1" and substituting the word "one".

 

      13. Section 27 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Penalty re: moose or caribou

      27. (1) A person who

             (a)  contravenes a requirement or obligation imposed on the person by the regulations or an order made under them; or

             (b)  fails to observe or fulfil a condition attached to a licence or permit issued to the person under the regulations,

that relates to caribou or moose is guilty of an offence.

             (2)  Where a person is convicted of an offence under subsection (1), that person is liable on summary conviction,

             (a)  for a first offence, to a fine of not less than $2,000 and not more than $25,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not less than one month and not more than 6 months or to both a fine and imprisonment; and

             (b)  for a second or subsequent offence that occurs within 5 years of a previous conviction, to a fine of not less than $6,000 and not more than $25,000 and to imprisonment for a term of not less than one month and not more than 6 months.

 

      14. (1) Subsections 29(1) and (2) of the Act are repealed and the following substituted:

Prohibition against holding hunting licence

      29. (1) Where a person is convicted of an offence under section 27, if it is not an offence to which subsection (2) applies, the convicting Provincial Court judge shall, in addition to another penalty imposed for the offence,

             (a)  cancel all hunting licences held by that person;

             (b)  make an order prohibiting that person from holding a hunting licence for a period of 5 years from the date of conviction; and

             (c)  where that person does not hold a hunting licence, make an order prohibiting that person from holding a hunting licence for a period of 5 years from the date of conviction.

             (2)  Where a person is convicted of an offence under section 27 and it is a second or subsequent offence by the person under that section committed within a period of 2 years after an earlier offence under that section for which the person was convicted, the convicting Provincial Court judge shall, in addition to another penalty imposed for the offence, make an order permanently prohibiting the person from holding a hunting licence.

             (2)  Subsection 29(3) of the Act is amended by deleting the number "1" and substituting the word "one".

 

      15. The Act is amended by adding immediately after section 30 the following:

Limitation period

      31. A proceeding in respect of an offence under this Act or the regulations may be instituted not later than 3 years after the subject matter of the proceedings is discovered. 

Commencement

      16. This Act, or a section, subsection, paragraph or subparagraph of this Act, comes into force on a day or days to be proclaimed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council.

ŠKing's Printer