Thank you, Madam Chair. As Mr. Hawkins says, the Chair is always right.

Madam Chair, just on the opening comments, I’m actually quite proud to say that I like what I’m seeing here in terms of some of these amendments, especially with the fire restrictions, but my questions or my overall comments here of concern is, would this act compete with current

legislation that we have for motor vehicle legislation with respect to if there is infringements of the vehicle in a park. Which act would supersede in the event of a breach? But other than that, I do support what I’m seeing here, but I’m a little confused as to which act would definitely have a precedence here. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister Ramsay.

Thank you, Madam Chair. If the vehicle was located in a territorial park it would be the parks legislation that would take precedence. Thank you.

I guess in its broader sense, the current act, what were some of the impediments that the department was facing to come forward with these type of amendments?

It was difficult for enforcement of parking infractions where the owner of the vehicle had to be issued the ticket. The changes would mean that park officers could ticket the vehicle itself. When the charge would get to court, it would be much more likely that a charge could stick. I think that is the biggest reason for the change. It’s not directed at the owner of the vehicle, it’s the vehicle itself so as we can enforce parking in the parks much more effectively.

So I would assume that the assumption is that the vehicle or motor vehicle or, let’s say, all-terrain vehicle, it would need to be a registered vehicle in order to ticket a vehicle. What happens if the vehicle is non-registered? What happens if there’s a motorcycle, quad, ATV that is a non-registered piece of equipment in the park? What would occur in that regard?

The vehicle would be removed from the park if it was not registered, it had no plates. Typically a parks officer would contact the RCMP. The vehicle or ATV in this case may have been stolen, and we would look at getting the RCMP and the authorities involved and removing the vehicle from the location.

I would assume in that scenario that the parks act would not indicate…or the violation would not be under the parks act. This would actually be under the Motor Vehicles Act. Would that be my assumption?

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Ms. Austin.

No problem. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Madam Chair. No problem. This is in relationship to a vehicle that is non-registered. What I mean by vehicle, it could be

motor vehicle, ATV, or other that is non-registered that is ticketed as an infringement. Again, I’m reading the new act here that it’s the vehicle that is ticketed. But because this vehicle is not registered, would the Motor Vehicles Act supersede the parks act or amendment in this case?

Ms. Austin, could you repeat your last sentence, because the mike was cut off?

I would assume in that scenario a vehicle is removed that is non-registered. Therefore, there would be no ticket issued because proof of ownership or registration would not be able to be ascertained. Is that my understanding?

Thank you, Ms. Austin. Mr. Ramsay, do you perhaps want to confirm that back to the Member at a later time?

Yes, if the Member could repeat the question, we’ll get him an answer.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Dolynny.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The scenario is a vehicle that is non-registered – what I mean by vehicle is it could either be a regular car or truck or this would also include any ATV, snowmobile, those types of vehicles that may not be registered – so a non-registered vehicle in a park that infringes the park act. It appears that this vehicle would be removed. But because proof of ownership cannot be ascertained because of a non-registered vehicle, that it would just be removed, that no ticket be issued to an owner because there was no registration of that vehicle. That was the question.

If you couldn’t find the owner, it would be impossible to ticket somebody. If the vehicle was unregistered and we couldn’t ascertain who owned it, it would be impossible to issue a ticket. The vehicle would be removed from the park and put in impound. If somebody came to collect it and claimed to be the owner of that vehicle, then a ticket could be issued to that person.

Would the department not be able to identify ownership through the vehicle identification number of the said vehicle?

They may be able to with the help of other authorities. Parks officers wouldn’t have the capacity to run a serial number through a

computer system to find out who owns it. They would have to involve other agencies.