Freshwater Fish Marketing Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. F-13)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Freshwater Fish Marketing Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

2 In this Act,

Board

Board means the Board of Directors of the Corporation; (conseil)

Chairman

Chairman[Repealed, 2006, c. 9, s. 276]

Chairperson

Chairperson means the Chairperson of the Board; (Version anglaise seulement)

container

container includes any type of receptacle, package, wrapper or confining band, used in packing or marketing fish; (emballage)

Corporation

Corporation means the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation established by subsection 3(1); (Office)

Minister

Minister means such member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada as is designated by the Governor in Council as the Minister for the purposes of this Act; (ministre)

participating province

participating province means a province in respect of which there is in force an agreement entered into under section 24 with the government of that province; (province participante)

President

President means the President of the Corporation. (président)

PART IFreshwater Fish Marketing Corporation

Constitution of the Corporation

Marginal note:Corporation established

• 3 (1) A corporation is hereby established, to be known as the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation, consisting of a Board of Directors composed of a Chairperson, a President, one director for each participating province and four other directors.

• Marginal note:Appointment of Chairperson and President

  (2) The Chairperson and the President shall each be appointed by the Governor in Council to hold office during pleasure for such term as the Governor in Council considers appropriate.

• Marginal note:Appointment of directors

  (3) Each director, other than the Chairperson and the President, shall be appointed by the Minister, with the approval of the Governor in Council, to hold office during pleasure for a term not exceeding four years that will ensure, as far as possible, the expiration in any one year of the terms of office of not more than one half of the directors.

• Marginal note:Appointment

  (4) A director of the Corporation for a participating province shall be appointed on the recommendation of the lieutenant governor in council of the participating province.

• Marginal note:Eligibility

  (5) A person who has reached the age of seventy years is not eligible to be appointed a director of the Corporation and a director of the Corporation ceases to hold office on reaching the age of seventy years.

• Marginal note:Re-appointment

  (6) A director of the Corporation on the expiration of that director’s term of office is, if not disqualified by age, eligible for re-appointment.

• Marginal note:Vacancies

  (7) A vacancy on the Board does not impair the right of the remaining directors of the Corporation to act, but where the vacancy relates to the office of a director for a participating province, it shall be filled as soon as practicable in the manner provided in this section.

• Marginal note:Temporary substitute directors

  (8) If any director of the Corporation, other than the Chairperson or the President, is absent or unable to act, the Governor in Council may appoint a temporary substitute director on such conditions as the Governor in Council prescribes.

Marginal note:Chairperson to preside at meetings

4 The Chairperson shall preside at meetings of the Board, but in the event of the absence or incapacity of the Chairperson, or if the office of Chairperson is vacant, the President shall preside at those meetings.

Marginal note:Management vested in President

• 5 (1) The President is the chief executive officer of the Corporation and the general manager of its undertakings and has on behalf of the Board the direction and control of the business of the Corporation with authority to act in the conduct of the business of the Corporation in all matters that are not by this Act or by the by-laws of the Board specifically reserved to be done by the Board.

• Marginal note:Absence or incapacity of President

  (2) In the event of the absence or incapacity of the President, or if the office of President is vacant, the Board shall authorize an officer or director of the Corporation to act as President for the time being, but no person so authorized by the Board has authority to act as President for a period exceeding sixty days without the approval of the Governor in Council.

Marginal note:Salaries and fees

• 6 (1) The President shall be paid by the Corporation a salary to be fixed by the Governor in Council and the Chairperson and the other directors of the Corporation other than the President shall be paid by the Corporation such fees for attendances at meetings of the Board or any committee thereof as are fixed by the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Expenses

  (2) Each director of the Corporation is entitled to be paid by the Corporation such travel and living expenses incurred by the director in the performance of his duties as are fixed by by-law of the Board.

Purpose and Powers

Marginal note:Purpose and powers

7 The Corporation is established for the purpose of marketing and trading in fish, fish products and fish by-products in and outside Canada and, in addition to the powers conferred by other provisions of this Act and by any other Act, has for that purpose power to

• (a) buy fish and dress, fillet, freeze, package or otherwise prepare fish for market;

• (b) buy, manufacture or produce fish products and fish by-products and package or otherwise prepare fish products and fish by-products for market;

• (c) store, ship, insure, import, export, market, sell or otherwise dispose of fish, fish products and fish by-products bought, prepared, manufactured or produced by it;

• (d) purchase, lease or otherwise acquire and hold, sell or otherwise deal with any real property;

• (e) establish branches or employ agents in Canada or elsewhere;

• (f) invest any money in its possession or under its control that in its opinion is not immediately required for the purposes of its operations, in securities of or guaranteed by the Government of Canada and sell any securities so acquired by it and reinvest the proceeds or any part of the proceeds thereof in like manner;

• (g) borrow money from any bank on the credit of the Corporation;

• (h) make loans of working capital on a seasonal basis to persons engaged in fishing for commercial purposes in a participating province; and

• (i) do all such other things as are necessary or incidental to the exercise of any of its powers or the carrying out of any of its functions under this Act.

Marginal note:Acceptance and exercise of additional powers

8 The Corporation may enter into and carry out arrangements with any government or person that the Corporation deems necessary or desirable in furtherance of the purpose for which it is established, and may receive and exercise any grants, rights, franchises, privileges and concessions that may be granted to or conferred on it by any government or person.

Organization and Staff

Marginal note:Employment of staff

• 9 (1) The Corporation may employ such officers and employees as it considers necessary for the proper conduct of its activities.

• Marginal note:Terms and conditions of employment

  (2) The Board may by by-law prescribe the duties of the officers and employees of the Corporation and the terms and conditions of their employment.

• Marginal note:Remuneration

  (3) The persons employed pursuant to subsection (1) shall be paid by the Corporation such remuneration as is fixed by by-law of the Board.

Marginal note:Application of certain Acts and regulations

• 10 (1) The President and the officers and employees of the Corporation shall be deemed to be employed in the public service for the purposes of the Public Service Superannuation Act and the Corporation shall be deemed to be a Public Service corporation for the purposes of section 37 of that Act.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (2) For the purposes of the Government Employees Compensation Act and any regulation made pursuant to section 9 of the Aeronautics Act, the President and the officers and employees of the Corporation shall be deemed to be employed in the federal public administration.

Marginal note:Directors, officers and employees not part of federal public administration

11 Except as provided in section 10, a director or an officer or employee of the Corporation is not in that capacity part of the federal public administration.

General

Marginal note:Board may make by-laws

12 The Board may make by-laws

• (a) respecting the calling of meetings of the Board;

• (b) respecting the conduct of business at meetings of the Board and the establishment of committees thereof, the delegation of duties to those committees and the fixing of quorums for meetings of the Board and committees thereof;

• (c) subject to the approval of the Treasury Board, fixing the travel and living expenses to be paid to the directors of the Corporation;

• (d) respecting the duties and conduct of the directors of the Corporation; and

• (e) generally, for the conduct and management of the affairs of the Corporation.

Marginal note:Head office

13 The head office of the Corporation shall be at the city of Winnipeg or in the immediate vicinity thereof, in the Province of Manitoba, but meetings of the Board may be held at such other places in Canada as the Board may determine.

Marginal note:Agent of Her Majesty

14 The Corporation is for all purposes of this Act an agent of Her Majesty in right of Canada.

Marginal note:Conduct of financial operations

• 15 (1) The Corporation shall conduct its operations on a self-sustaining financial basis without appropriations therefor by Parliament.

• Marginal note:Payments in lieu of land taxes

  (2) The Corporation may make grants in lieu of taxes to any municipality in Canada not exceeding the taxes that might be levied by the municipality in respect of any lands of the Corporation if the Corporation were not an agent of Her Majesty.

Financial

Marginal note:Minister of Finance may guarantee borrowing by and make loans to Corporation

• 16 (1) For the purpose of enabling the Corporation to carry on its operations under this Act, the Governor in Council may authorize the Minister of Finance, on such terms and conditions as may be agreed on,

  • (a) to guarantee repayment of loans, and interest thereon, made by any bank to the Corporation; and

  • (b) to make loans to the Corporation.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (2) The aggregate outstanding at any time of the amounts borrowed by the Corporation pursuant to paragraph 7(g) and the amounts lent by the Minister of Finance under this section shall not exceed fifty million dollars.

PART II[Repealed, 2010, c. 12, s. 1738]

17 [Repealed, 2010, c. 12, s. 1738]

18 [Repealed, 2010, c. 12, s. 1738]

PART IIIRegulation of Interprovincial and Export Trade

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

19 In this Part, except section 30,

fish

fish means round, dressed or filleted fish of any species enumerated in the schedule, whether fresh or frozen and whether packaged or unpackaged, that are fished for commercial purposes in a participating province, and includes parts of any such fish; (poisson)

fisherman

fisherman means a person licensed pursuant to the Fisheries Act or the regulations thereunder to fish for commercial purposes in a participating province, and includes any person acting on behalf of and representing any two or more persons so licensed. (pêcheur)

Interprovincial and Export Trade

Marginal note:Trade in fish

• 20 (1) Except in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in any licence that may be issued by the Corporation in that behalf, no person, other than the Corporation or an agent of the Corporation, shall

  • (a) export fish from Canada;

  • (b) send, convey or carry fish from a participating province to another participating province or to any other province;

  • (c) in a participating province, receive fish for conveyance or carriage to a destination outside the province; or

  • (d) sell or buy, or agree to sell or buy, fish situated in a participating province for delivery in another participating province or any other province, or outside Canada.

• Marginal note:By-laws respecting licences

  (2) The Board may, for the purposes of this section, make by-laws providing for the issue of licences by the Corporation and prescribing the form of and the terms and conditions to be set out in those licences.

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

21 The Governor in Council may by regulation

• (a) add to the schedule any species of fish that are fished in a participating province or delete from the schedule any species of fish enumerated therein; or

• (b) exempt from the application of all or any of the provisions of this Part, either conditionally or unconditionally and either in general terms or for a specified period, any species of fish enumerated in the schedule, any area or region in a participating province or any transaction, person or class of transactions or persons.

Duties and Powers of the Corporation

Marginal note:Corporation to undertake interprovincial and export marketing of fish

• 22 (1) Subject to section 20, the Corporation has the exclusive right to trade in and to market fish in interprovincial and export trade and shall exercise that right, either by itself or by its agents, with the object of

  • (a) marketing fish in an orderly manner;

  • (b) increasing returns to fishermen; and

  • (c) promoting international markets for, and increasing interprovincial and export trade in, fish.

• Marginal note:Corporation to buy all fish offered

  (2) All fish lawfully fished by a fisherman and offered by the fisherman for sale to the Corporation for disposal in interprovincial or export trade shall be bought by the Corporation from the fisherman on such terms and conditions and for such price as may be agreed on by the Corporation and the fisherman subject to any applicable scheme for payment established and operated by the Corporation pursuant to section 23.

• Marginal note:Marketing of fish

  (3) The Corporation shall determine the form in which fish bought by it pursuant to this section shall be marketed and shall carry out or cause to be carried out any processing or preparation for market that it deems necessary, and the Corporation shall market the fish at such times and places and in such manner as in its opinion will best achieve the attainment of the objects mentioned in subsection (1).

Marginal note:Price systems and pooling authorized

23 The Corporation may develop, establish and operate schemes for payment for fish bought by it pursuant to this Part that provide for either or both

• (a) a system of initial and final prices or payments; and

• (b) the pooling of receipts for fish, including the operation of pool accounts, either generally or in relation to the area or region where the fish were fished, or the species, volume or quality of the fish sold to the Corporation, or on such other basis as the Corporation deems appropriate.

Agreements Respecting Participation

Definition of province to which this section applies

• 24 (1) In this section, province to which this section applies means any of the following provinces or territories, namely, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut.

• Marginal note:Participation agreements

  (2) With the approval of the Governor in Council, the Minister may, on behalf of the Government of Canada, enter into an agreement with the government of any province to which this section applies, providing for

  • (a) the sharing by the province with the Government of Canada of initial operating and establishment expenses of the Corporation and of any losses incurred as a result of the guarantee, under paragraph 16(1)(a), of repayments of loans, and interest thereon, made by any bank to the Corporation;

  • (b) the performance by the Corporation, on behalf of the province, of functions relating to intraprovincial trade in fish;

  • (c) the undertaking by the province of arrangements for the payment, to the owner of any plant or equipment used in storing, processing or otherwise preparing fish for market, of compensation for any such plant or equipment that will or may be rendered redundant by reason of any operations authorized to be carried out by the Corporation under this Part; and

  • (d) such other matters as may be agreed on by the Minister and the government of the province.

Enforcement

Marginal note:Inspectors

• 25 (1) The Governor in Council may designate any qualified person as an inspector for the purposes of this Part.

• Marginal note:Certificate to be produced

  (2) An inspector shall be furnished with a certificate of his designation as an inspector and on entering any place, premises or conveyance referred to in subsection 26(1) shall, if so required, produce the certificate to the person in charge thereof.

Marginal note:Powers of inspectors

• 26 (1) Subject to subsection (1.1), an inspector may at any reasonable time

  • (a) enter any place or premises that the inspector believes on reasonable grounds is being used to store, pack, process or prepare fish for market or shipment or any vehicle, trailer, vessel, railway car or aircraft that the inspector believes on reasonable grounds is being used to ship or convey fish for market;

  • (b) open any container found therein or examine anything found therein that the inspector believes on reasonable grounds contains any such fish, and take samples thereof; and

  • (c) require any person to produce for inspection or for the purpose of obtaining copies thereof or extracts therefrom, any books, shipping bills, bills of lading, invoices or other documents or papers concerning any matter relevant to the administration of this Part.

• Marginal note:Warrant required to enter dwelling-house

  (1.1) Where any place or premises referred to in paragraph (1)(a) is a dwelling-house, an inspector may not enter that dwelling-house without the consent of the occupant except under the authority of a warrant issued under subsection (1.2).

• Marginal note:Authority to issue warrant

  (1.2) Where on ex parte application a justice of the peace is satisfied by information on oath

  • (a) that the conditions for entry described in paragraph (1)(a) exist in relation to a dwelling-house,

  • (b) that entry to the dwelling-house is necessary for any purpose relating to the administration or enforcement of this Act, and

  • (c) that entry to the dwelling-house has been refused or that there are reasonable grounds for believing that entry thereto will be refused,

  the justice of the peace may issue a warrant under his hand authorizing the inspector named therein to enter that dwelling-house subject to such conditions as may be specified in the warrant.

• Marginal note:Use of force

  (1.3) In executing a warrant issued under subsection (1.2), the inspector named therein shall not use force unless the inspector is accompanied by a peace officer and the use of force has been specifically authorized in the warrant.

• Marginal note:Assistance to inspectors

  (2) The owner or person in charge of any place, premises or conveyance referred to in subsection (1) and every person found therein shall give an inspector all reasonable assistance to enable the inspector to carry out his duties and functions under this Part and shall furnish the inspector with any information he may reasonably require with respect to the administration of this Part.

Marginal note:Seizure

• 27 (1) Where an inspector believes on reasonable grounds that any provision of this Part has been contravened, the inspector may seize and detain the fish by means of or in relation to which he believes on reasonable grounds the contravention was committed.

• Marginal note:Detention

  (2) Any fish seized and detained pursuant to subsection (1) shall not be detained after

  • (a) in the opinion of an inspector, the provisions of this Part have been complied with, or

  • (b) the expiration of ninety days after the date of seizure,

  unless before that time proceedings have been instituted in respect of the contravention, in which event the fish may be detained until the proceedings are finally concluded.

• Marginal note:Forfeiture

  (3) Where a person has been convicted of a contravention of any provision of this Part, any fish by means of or in relation to which the offence was committed is, on the conviction, in addition to any punishment imposed, forfeited to Her Majesty if the forfeiture is directed by the court.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (4) The Governor in Council may make regulations

  • (a) respecting the detention of fish seized under this section and for preserving or safeguarding the fish so detained; and

  • (b) respecting the disposition of fish forfeited under this section.

Marginal note:Obstruction and false statements

28 No person shall obstruct or hinder, or make a false or misleading statement either orally or in writing to, an inspector while the inspector is engaged in carrying out his duties or functions under this Part.

Offences and Punishment

Marginal note:Contravention of this Part

• 29 (1) Every person who, or whose employee or agent, contravenes any provision of this Part

  • (a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years; or

  • (b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

• Marginal note:Offence by employee or agent

  (2) In any prosecution for an offence under this Part, it is sufficient proof of the offence to establish that it was committed by an employee or agent of the accused whether or not the employee or agent is identified or has been prosecuted for the offence, unless the accused establishes that the offence was committed without the knowledge or consent of the accused and that the accused exercised all due diligence to prevent its commission.

• Marginal note:Limitation period

  (3) Any proceedings by way of summary conviction in respect of an offence under this Part may be instituted at any time within but not later than one year after the time when the subject-matter of the proceedings arose.

Marginal note:Evidence with respect to geographical origin

30 In any prosecution for an offence under this Part, evidence that a container was marked in such a manner as to indicate or give rise to a reasonable belief that the fish contained therein were the product of or were fished in a particular participating province or a particular area or region in the province is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof that the fish contained therein were fished in that province.

Marginal note:Venue

31 A complaint or information in respect of an offence under this Part may be heard, tried or determined by a provincial court judge or a justice if the accused is resident or carrying on business within the territorial jurisdiction of that provincial court judge or justice, although the matter of the complaint or information did not arise in that territorial jurisdiction.

PART IVAnnual Report

Marginal note:Submission to lieutenant governors

32 The Corporation shall submit a copy of each annual report of the Corporation prepared in accordance with section 150 of the Financial Administration Act to the lieutenant governor in council of each participating province.