Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (S.C. 2018, c. 12, s. 186)

Marginal note:Suspended sentence

• 250 (1) If a person is convicted of an offence and the court suspends the passing of sentence under paragraph 731(1)(a) of the Criminal Code, the court may, in addition to any probation order made under that Act, make an order containing one or more of the prohibitions, directions or requirements referred to in subsection 249(1).

• Marginal note:Imposition of sentence

  (2) If the person does not comply with the order or is convicted of another offence within three years after the order is made, the court may, on the application of the prosecution, impose any sentence that could have been imposed if the passing of sentence had not been suspended.

Marginal note:Application of fines

• 251 (1) Subject to regulations made under section 241, all fines received by the Receiver General in respect of the commission of an offence under this Part or any amount received in accordance with an order under paragraph 249(1)(d) are to be credited to the Environmental Damages Fund, an account in the accounts of Canada, and used for purposes related to protecting, conserving or restoring the environment or for administering that Fund.

• Marginal note:For greater certainty

  (2) For greater certainty, purposes related to protecting, conserving or restoring the environment include promoting the control or reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

• Marginal note:Recommendations of court

  (3) A court imposing a fine may recommend to the Minister that all or a portion of the fine credited to the Environmental Damages Fund be paid to a person or an organization, including any entity that represents the interests of one or more of the Indigenous peoples of Canada, specified by the court for a purpose referred to in subsection (1).

Registry

Marginal note:Publication of information about contraventions

• 252 (1) For the purpose of encouraging compliance with this Part, the Minister must keep, in a registry accessible to the public, information about all convictions of organizations for offences under this Part.

• Marginal note:Retention

  (2) Information in the registry is to be kept for a minimum of five years.

DIVISION 5Miscellaneous

Agreements Respecting Administration and Enforcement

Marginal note:Negotiation of agreement

• 253 (1) The Minister may negotiate an agreement respecting the administration and enforcement of this Part with any person, any government in Canada, the government of a foreign state or a political subdivision of a foreign state, any international organization or any institution of a government or an international organization.

• Marginal note:Publication of final agreement

  (2) The Minister must publish an agreement made under subsection (1), or give notice of its availability, in the Canada Gazette and in any other manner that the Minister considers appropriate.

• Marginal note:Action not limited by agreement

  (3) An agreement made under this section must not limit or restrict the carrying out of any action the Minister deems necessary for the administration and enforcement of this Part, including the conduct of inspections or investigations.

Confidentiality

Marginal note:Request for confidentiality

254 A person that provides information to the Minister under this Part may submit with the information a written request, with supporting justifications, that the information be treated as confidential for one or more of the following reasons:

• (a) the information constitutes a trade secret;

• (b) the disclosure of the information would likely cause material financial loss to, or prejudice to the competitive position of, the person; or

• (c) the disclosure of the information would likely interfere with contractual or other negotiations being conducted by the person.

Marginal note:Additional justification

• 255 (1) The Minister may, after studying the reasons provided under section 254, require the person in question to provide in writing, within a period specified by the Minister, additional justification for the request for confidentiality.

• Marginal note:Minister’s decision

  (2) In determining whether to accept or reject the request, the Minister must consider whether the reasons are well-founded and, if they are, the Minister may nevertheless reject the request if the Minister considers that the public interest in the disclosure of the information outweighs in importance any material financial loss or prejudice to the competitive position of the person that provided the information.

• Marginal note:Acceptance of request

  (3) If the Minister accepts the request, he or she must not disclose the information unless the disclosure

  • (a) is made with the written consent of the person that made the request;

  • (b) is made to the Canada Revenue Agency;

  • (c) is made to the Minister of Finance for the purpose of developing policy related to the pricing of greenhouse gas emissions;

  • (d) is necessary for the purposes of the administration or enforcement of this Part; or

  • (e) is made under an agreement or arrangement between the Government of Canada or any of its institutions and any other government in Canada, the government of a foreign state or a political subdivision of a foreign state, or an international organization or any of its institutions, or between the Minister and any other minister of the Crown in right of Canada, in which the government, international organization, institution or other minister undertakes to keep the information confidential.

• Marginal note:Rejection of request

  (4) If the Minister rejects the request,

  • (a) the person has the right to ask the Federal Court to review the matter within 30 days after the day on which the person is notified that the request has been rejected or within any further time that the Court may, before the expiry of those 30 days, fix; and

  • (b) the Minister must advise the person of the rejection, of the Minister’s intention to disclose the information and of the person’s right to ask the Federal Court to review the matter.

• Marginal note:Applicable provisions

  (5) If the person asks the Federal Court to review a matter under paragraph (4)(a), sections 45 to 47 of the Access to Information Act apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, in respect of a request for a review under that paragraph as if it were an application made under section 44 of that Act.

Marginal note:Regulations

256 The Governor in Council may make regulations specifying the information to be provided in a request for confidentiality.

Regulations

Marginal note:Variation

257 For greater certainty, regulations made under this Part may distinguish among any province or area and among any class of persons, equipment, facilities, activities or greenhouse gas emission sources, including fuels.

Marginal note:Incorporation by reference — limitation removed

258 The limitation set out in paragraph 18.‍1(2)‍(a) of the Statutory Instruments Act, to the effect that a document must be incorporated as it exists on a particular date, does not apply to any power to make regulations under this Part.

Marginal note:Regulations not mandatory

259 The following provisions apply in the absence of any regulations referred to in those provisions:

• (a) subsections 172(1) and (3);

• (b) sections 175 and 179;

• (c) subsection 180(2);

• (d) section 182;

• (e) subsection 187(3); and

• (f) subsections 188(1), (2) and (4).

Service Fees Act

Marginal note:Service Fees Act

260 For greater certainty, an excess emissions charge is not a fee as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Service Fees Act.

Review

Marginal note:Review

• 261 (1) The Minister must undertake a review of sections 232 to 252 each time the Minister undertakes a review under section 294.5 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.

• Marginal note:Report to Parliament

  (2) The Minister must, no later than one year after the day on which the review is undertaken, cause a report on the review to be tabled in each House of Parliament.

PART 3Application of Provincial Schemes

Marginal note:Definitions

262 The following definitions apply in this Part.

federal land

federal land means land that belongs to Her Majesty in right of Canada, or that Her Majesty in right of Canada has the power to dispose of, and all waters on and airspace above that land. (territoire domanial)

federal work or undertaking

federal work or undertaking means any work or undertaking that is within the legislative authority of Parliament, including

• (a) a work or undertaking operated for or in connection with navigation and shipping, whether inland or maritime, including the operation of ships and transportation by ship;

• (b) a railway, canal, telegraph or other work or undertaking connecting one province with another, or extending beyond the limits of a province;

• (c) a line of ships connecting a province with any other province, or extending beyond the limits of a province;

• (d) a ferry between any province and any other province or between any province and any country other than Canada;

• (e) airports, aircraft and commercial air services;

• (f) a broadcast undertaking;

• (g) a bank;

• (h) a work or undertaking that, although wholly situated within a province, is before or after its completion declared by Parliament to be for the general advantage of Canada or for the advantage of two or more provinces; and

• (i) a work or undertaking outside the exclusive legislative authority of the legislatures of the provinces. (entreprises fédérales)

Indigenous land

Indigenous land means

• (a) a reserve and any other land that is set apart for the use and benefit of a band under the Indian Act, and all waters on and airspace above that reserve or land; and

• (b) land that is subject to a comprehensive or specific claim agreement, or a self-government agreement, between the Government of Canada and an Indigenous people of Canada, and all waters on and airspace above that land, with respect to which title remains with Her Majesty in right of Canada. (terres autochtones)

Indigenous peoples of Canada

Indigenous peoples of Canada has the meaning assigned by the definition aboriginal peoples of Canada in subsection 35(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982. (peuples autochtones du Canada)

provincial law

provincial law means an Act of the legislature of a province that relates to the control or pricing of greenhouse gas emissions and any regulations made under that Act. (texte législatif d’une province)

Marginal note:Regulations

• 263 (1) The Governor in Council may, by regulation, made on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment, provide that a provincial law applies to

  • (a) a federal work or undertaking that is located in that province;

  • (b) federal land or any part of that land that is located in that province;

  • (c) Indigenous land or any part of that land that is located in that province;

  • (d) any part of the internal waters of Canada that is located in or contiguous with that province; or

  • (e) any part of the territorial sea of Canada, the exclusive economic zone of Canada or the continental shelf of Canada that is contiguous with that province.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to any provision of a provincial law that imposes a tax.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (3) For greater certainty, this section must not be interpreted as providing a basis for any claim, by or on behalf of a province, in respect of any interest in or legislative jurisdiction over any offshore area to which a provincial law is applied under this section or the living or non-living resources of that area, or as limiting the application of any federal laws.

Marginal note:Statutory Instruments Act

264 The Statutory Instruments Act does not apply to any instrument made by a provincial official or body under the authority of a provincial law that is incorporated by reference in a regulation made under subsection 263(1).

Marginal note:Service Fees Act

265 For greater certainty, the Service Fees Act does not apply to any fee, charge or levy that is fixed under a provincial law that is incorporated by reference in a regulation made under subsection 263(1).

Marginal note:Federal Courts Act

• 266 (1) A provincial official or body that exercises a power or performs a duty or function under a regulation made under subsection 263(1) is not a federal board, commission or other tribunal for the purposes of the Federal Courts Act.

• Marginal note:Review or appeal in provincial courts

  (2) Unless otherwise provided by a regulation made under subsection 263(1), if a power is conferred or a duty or function is imposed by a provincial law that is incorporated by reference in the regulation, the exercise of the power or the performance of the duty or function is subject to review by, or appeal to, the courts of the province in the same manner and to the same extent as if the laws of that province applied.

Marginal note:Exclusive economic zone and continental shelf

267 For greater certainty, an individual who exercises a power or performs a duty or function under a regulation made under subsection 263(1) may do so in the exclusive economic zone of Canada or in waters above the continental shelf of Canada.

Marginal note:Amounts collected

268 Payments collected by a provincial official or body under a regulation made under subsection 263(1) belong to Her Majesty in right of the province and are not public money for the purposes of the Financial Administration Act.

Marginal note:Liability for acts and omissions

269 In respect of any act or omission occurring in the exercise of a power or the performance of a duty or function under a regulation made under subsection 263(1),

• (a) Her Majesty in right of Canada is entitled to the same limits on liability, defences and immunities as those that would apply to Her Majesty in right of the province in question when Her Majesty in right of that province exercises such a power or performs such a duty or function under the law that applies in that province; and

• (b) any person or body exercising the power or performing the duty or function is entitled to the same limits on liability, defences and immunities as those that would apply to a person or body when the person or body exercises such a power or performs such a duty or function under the law that applies in that province in question.