Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (S.C. 1999, c. 33)

Marginal note:Importing substances by analysts

284. Despite any other provision of this Act or the regulations, the Minister may, subject to any reasonable condition specified by the Minister, authorize in writing an analyst to import, possess and use a substance for the purpose of conducting measurements, tests and research with respect to the substance.

Marginal note:Certificate of analyst

• 285. (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), a certificate of an analyst stating that the analyst has analysed or examined a substance or product and stating the result of the analysis or examination is admissible in evidence in any prosecution for an offence under this Act and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is proof of the statements contained in the certificate without proof of the signature or the official character of the person appearing to have signed the certificate.

• Marginal note:Attendance of analyst

  (2) The party against whom a certificate of an analyst is produced may, with leave of the court, require the attendance of the analyst for the purposes of cross-examination.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (3) No certificate of an analyst shall be received in evidence unless the party intending to produce it has given to the party against whom it is intended to be produced reasonable notice of that intention together with a copy of the certificate.

Marginal note:Safety marks and prescribed documents

286. In any prosecution for an offence under this Act, evidence that a means of containment or transport bore a safety mark or was accompanied by a prescribed document is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof of the information shown or indicated by the safety mark or contained in the prescribed document.

Marginal note:Regulations

286.1 The Governor in Council may, by regulation, designate provisions of regulations made under this Act for the purposes of paragraph 272(1)(h) and subsection 272.2(1) and paragraph 272.4(1)(b).

Marginal note:Fundamental purpose of sentencing

287. The fundamental purpose of sentencing for offences under this Act is to contribute, in light of the significant and many threats to the environment and to human health and to the importance of a healthy environment to the well-being of Canadians, to respect for the law protecting the environment and human health through the imposition of just sanctions that have as their objectives

• (a) to deter the offender and any other person from committing offences under this Act;

• (b) to denounce unlawful conduct that damages or creates a risk of damage to the environment or harms or creates a risk of harm to human health; and

• (c) to reinforce the “polluter pays” principle by ensuring that offenders are held responsible for effective clean-up and environmental restoration.