Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act — M-0.2 34
34 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 144: Prohibitions, Offences and Punishment Obstruction 144.01 It is prohibited to knowingly obstruct or hinder an inspector who is exercising their powers or performing their duties and functions under this Part. False statements or information 144.02 It is prohibited to knowingly make a false or misleading statement or knowingly provide false or misleading information in connection with any matter under this Part to any person who is exercising their powers or performing their duties and functions under this Part. Offence 144.03 (1) Every person or body that proposes to carry out a development and that contravenes section 117.1 and every person who contravenes subsection 142.23(3) or an order made under subsection 142.29(1) is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction (a) for a first offence, to a fine not exceeding $250,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both; and (b) for a second or subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding $500,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both. Obstruction or false statements or information (2) Every person who contravenes section 144.01 or 144.02 is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $250,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both. Continuing offences (3) An offence under subsection (1) that is committed or continued on more than one day constitutes a separate offence for each day on which it is committed or continued. Due diligence defence (4) No one is to be convicted of an offence under subsection (1) if they establish that they exercised due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence. Limitation period or prescription 144.04 No proceedings in respect of an offence under this Part are to be instituted more than five years after the day on which the federal Minister becomes aware of the acts or omissions that constitute the alleged offence. Admissibility of evidence 144.05 (1) In proceedings for an offence under this Part, a certificate, report or other document of the federal Minister, the Review Board, a regulatory authority, a designated regulatory agency or an inspector that is purported to have been signed by that person, board or authority is admissible in evidence without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed it and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is proof of the matters asserted in it. Copies and extracts (2) In proceedings for an offence under this Part, a copy of or an extract from any document that is made by the federal Minister, the Review Board, a regulatory authority, a designated regulatory agency or an inspector that appears to have been certified under the signature of that person, board or authority as a true copy or extract is admissible in evidence without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed it and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, has the same probative force as the original would have if it were proved in the ordinary way. Presumed date of issue (3) A document referred to in this section is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, presumed to have been issued on the date that it bears. Notice (4) No document referred to in this section is to be received in evidence unless the party intending to produce it has provided reasonable notice of that intention to the party against whom it is intended to be produced together with a copy of the document.