Electricity and Gas Inspection Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. E-4)

Marginal note:Burden of proof

29.21 In every case where the Minister is to determine whether a person who is named in a notice of violation committed any violation identified in it, the Minister shall do so on a balance of probabilities.

Marginal note:Offences by corporate officers, etc.

29.22 If a person other than an individual commits a violation under this Act, any of the person’s officers, directors, agents or mandataries who directs, authorizes, assents to or acquiesces or participates in the commission of the violation is a party to and liable for the violation, whether or not the person who actually committed it is proceeded against in accordance with this Act.

Marginal note:Vicarious liability — acts of employees, agents and mandataries

29.23 A person is liable for a violation that is committed by their employee, agent or mandatary who is acting in the course of the employee’s employment or within the scope of the agent’s or mandatary’s authority, whether or not the employee, agent or mandatary who actually committed the violation is identified or proceeded against in accordance with this Act.

Marginal note:Continuing violation

29.24 A violation that is continued on more than one day constitutes a separate violation in respect of each day during which it is continued.

Other Provisions

Marginal note:Evidence

29.25 In any proceeding for a violation, a notice of violation purporting to be issued under this Act is admissible in evidence without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed it.

Marginal note:Limitation period or prescription

29.26 No proceedings in respect of a violation may be commenced later than six months after the day on which an inspector becomes aware of the acts or omissions that constitute the alleged violation.

Marginal note:Certification by Minister

29.27 A document appearing to have been issued by the Minister and certifying the day on which the acts or omissions that constitute the alleged violation became known to an inspector 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 that the inspector became aware of the acts or omissions on that day.

Marginal note:Information may be made public

29.28 The Minister may make public

• (a) the name and business address of a person who enters into a compliance agreement, the nature of the compliance agreement — including the acts or omissions and provisions at issue, the conditions included in the compliance agreement and the amount payable under it, if any; or

• (b) the name and business address of a person who is deemed to have committed a violation or who the Minister determined committed a violation, the acts or omissions and provisions at issue, and the amount payable as a result, if any.

Marginal note:How act or omission may be proceeded with

29.29 If an act or omission may be proceeded with either as a violation or as an offence, proceeding in one manner precludes proceeding in the other.

Offences and Punishment

Marginal note:Falsification and meter frauds

30 Every person who

• (a) except as authorized by or under this Act, makes, causes or procures to be made, or assists in making any certificate required under this Act or purporting to be a certificate so required or any stamp, seal, label, tag or mark prescribed for the purposes of this Act or purporting to be a stamp, seal, label, tag or mark so prescribed,

• (b) knowingly sells, utters or disposes of, lets, uses, lends or exposes for sale any meter with any stamp, seal, label, tag or mark thereon made or obtained by means of the commission of an offence under paragraph (a) or section 32 or made or affixed by way of the use of anything so obtained,

• (c) in relation to the administration of this Act, knowingly

  • (i) makes any false representation,

  • (ii) makes or causes to be made any false entry in any register or record,

  • (iii) makes or causes to be made any false document or makes any alteration, false in a material respect, to the form of a copy of any document, or

  • (iv) produces or tenders any document containing false information,

• (d) for a fraudulent purpose,

  • (i) repairs or alters, or causes to be repaired or altered, or tampers with or does any other act in relation to a meter, or any wires or pipes leading to a meter, so as to cause the meter to register with an error, or

  • (ii) replaces any meter with a meter calculated to mislead, or

• (e) with intent to defraud, obtains, consumes, uses, supplies or sells electricity or gas in relation to which any meter

  • (i) registers with an error caused by an offence under paragraph (d), or

  • (ii) in the case of commission therewith of an offence under subparagraph (d)(ii), is calculated to mislead,

is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.

Marginal note:Forfeiture

• 31 (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (5), where any person is convicted of an offence under paragraph 30(b), any meter to which the offence relates is, in addition to any punishment imposed for the offence, forfeited to Her Majesty if that forfeiture is ordered by the court, in which event the meter shall be destroyed or otherwise disposed of as the Minister may direct.

• Marginal note:Application by person claiming interest or right

  (2) When any meter is ordered to be forfeited under subsection (1), any person, other than a party to the proceedings that resulted in the order, who claims an interest or right in the meter as owner, mortgagee or hypothecary creditor, as lien holder or holder of a prior claim or of any like interest or right may, within 30 days after the making of the order of forfeiture, apply to any superior court of competent jurisdiction for an order under subsection (5) after which the court shall fix a day for the hearing of the application.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (3) An applicant for an order under subsection (5) shall, at least 30 days prior to the day fixed for the hearing of the application, serve a notice of the application and of the hearing on the Minister and on all other persons who have claimed an interest or right in the meter that is the subject matter of the application as owner, mortgagee or hypothecary creditor, as lien holder or holder of a prior claim or of any like interest or right of whom the applicant has knowledge.

• Marginal note:Notice of intervention

  (4) Each person, other than the Minister, who is served with a notice under subsection (3) and who intends to appear at the hearing of the application to which the notice relates shall, at least ten days prior to the day fixed for the hearing, file an appropriate notice of intervention in the record of the court and serve a copy thereof on the Minister and on the applicant.

• Marginal note:Order declaring nature and extent of interests or rights

  (5) If, on the hearing of an application under this section, the court is satisfied that the applicant or any intervenor

  • (a) is innocent of any complicity in any conduct that caused the meter to be subject to forfeiture and of any collusion in relation to any such conduct, and

  • (b) exercised all reasonable care in respect of the persons permitted to obtain possession and use of the meter to satisfy himself or herself that it was not likely to be used in the commission of an offence under paragraph 30(b) or, in the case of a mortgagee or hypothecary creditor or a lien holder or a holder of a prior claim, that they exercised such care with respect to the mortgagor or hypothecary debtor or the giver of a lien or prior claim,

  the applicant, intervenor or both are entitled to an order declaring that their interests or rights are not affected by the forfeiture and declaring the nature and extent of each of their interests or rights and the rankings among them, and the court may, in addition, order that the meter to which the interests or rights relate be delivered to one or more of the persons found to have an interest or right in the meter or that an amount equal to the value of each of the interests or rights so declared be paid to the persons found to have those interests or rights.

Marginal note:Stealing stamp or seal

• 32 (1) Every person who steals any stamp, seal, label, tag or marker issued for the stamping, sealing, labelling, tagging or marking of a meter under this Act is guilty of an offence.

• Marginal note:Punishment — first offence

  (2) Every person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable, for a first offence,

  • (a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both; or

  • (b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.

• Marginal note:Punishment — subsequent offences

  (3) Every person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable, for a second or subsequent offence,

  • (a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both; or

  • (b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.

Marginal note:Other offences

• 33 (1) Every person is guilty of an offence who

  • (a) prevents or refuses lawful access to any meter in his possession or control,

  • (b) obstructs or hinders any examination or testing authorized by or under this Act,

  • (c) puts into service or causes to be put into service any meter contrary to subsection 9(1),

  • (d) refuses or neglects to cause any meter, being in a purchaser’s service, to be dealt with in any manner required under subsection 11(3) or section 12,

  • (e) being a contractor, contravenes subsection 6(2) or (3) or permits any meter, in default of compliance with section 12, to continue in service beyond the period within which it is required by that section to be dealt with in the manner provided thereby,

  • (f) contrary to subsection 15(1) verifies, seals, reverifies or reseals any meter or breaks or causes to be broken the seal of any meter,

  • (g) being an owner, contravenes subsection 16(2) or 22(2),

  • (h) being an accredited meter verifier, contravenes section 17,

  • (i) obstructs or hinders an inspector in executing his functions under this Act,

  • (j) not being an inspector or an accredited meter verifier, marks pursuant to regulations made under paragraph 28(1)(c), or issues a certificate as to the accuracy or condition of, any meter after it has been installed for use, or

  • (k) for the purposes of any sale by him of electricity or gas by unit of measurement, supplies electricity or gas that is, subject to prescribed limits of error, less in quantity or otherwise than the electricity or gas that he

    • (i) purports to supply, or

    • (ii) should supply on the basis of the total price charged therefor and the stated price per unit of measurement used to determine the total price.

  • (l) [Repealed, 2011, c. 3, s. 8]

  • (m) [Repealed, 2011, c. 3, s. 8]

• Marginal note:Punishment — first offence

  (2) Every person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable, for a first offence,

  • (a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding $10,000; or

  • (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding $25,000.

• Marginal note:Punishment — subsequent offences

  (3) Every person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable, for a second or subsequent offence,

  • (a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding $20,000; or

  • (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding $50,000.

Marginal note:Punishment — general offence

34 Every person who contravenes any provision of this Act or the regulations for the contravention of which no liability for a punishment is otherwise provided by this Act is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction for a first offence under that provision to a fine not exceeding $10,000, and for a second or subsequent offence under that provision to a fine not exceeding $20,000.

Marginal note:Extension of liability for offences

• 35 (1) In sections 30 to 34, “person” includes an unincorporated body that is a contractor.

• Marginal note:Officers, etc., of corporations

  (2) If a contractor or corporation commits an offence under this Act, any officer, director or agent or mandatary of the contractor or corporation who directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in or participated in the commission of the offence is a party to and guilty of the offence and is liable on conviction to the punishment provided for the offence whether or not the contractor or corporation has been prosecuted or convicted.

Marginal note:Due diligence defence

35.1 A person may not be convicted of an offence under this Act — other than for a contravention of any of paragraphs 30(b) to (e) or subsection 32(1) — if they establish that they exercised due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence.

Legal Proceedings

Marginal note:Offence by employee or agent or mandatary

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

• Marginal note:Limitation period

  (2) Any proceedings by way of summary conviction pursuant to this Act may be instituted at any time within but not later than twelve months after the time when the subject-matter of the proceedings arose.

• Marginal note:Trial of offences

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

• Marginal note:Prosecution of unincorporated body

  (4) A prosecution for an offence under this Act may be brought against and in the name of an unincorporated body that is a contractor and, for the purposes of that prosecution, the body is deemed to be a person and any act or thing done or omitted by any officer or agent or mandatary of the body within the scope of their authority to act on behalf of the body is deemed to be an act or thing done or omitted by the body.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (5) For the purposes of subsection (4), a prosecution against a body may be brought against it in the name by which the body is commonly known or in which any undertaking to supply electricity or gas to a purchaser is given by the body.