Government will soon hire a prosecutor to focus on the environment.
“We want to ensure that companies and individuals are following the legislation in place to protect the environment and our health,” said Environment Minister Iain Rankin. “Having a dedicated prosecutor in place will help us to better hold people and companies accountable when they break the law.
“This prosecutor will focus on the kinds of breaches that put our rivers and streams, our fishery, our water supplies, our parks and protected areas and human health at risk.”
The Public Prosecution Service and the Department of Environment worked together to create this new position. The prosecutor will take cases to court related to the Environment Act, food safety, public health, meat inspection, fisheries and aquaculture, animal welfare, natural resources and the fur industry.
The recruitment process will begin immediately.
Penalties for offences prosecuted under the Environment Act can lead to fines up to $1 million.
In the coming months, the province will move to regularly share an online list of environmental offences that have been prosecuted.
In the 2016-17 fiscal year, Department of Environment staff performed more than 22,400 inspections and audits, and issued more than 5,500 enforcement actions. These include directives, warnings, compliance orders, summary offence tickets and court cases.