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Tab 3 - Ontario Federation of Anglers v. Ontario 2002 CanLII 41606
Tab 3 - Ontario Federation of Anglers v. Ontario 2002 CanLII 41606
DOCKET: C36139
BETWEEN: )
)
ONTARIO FEDERATION OF ) Robert Charney and
ANGLERS & HUNTERS (“OFAH”) ) Hart Schwartz for the
and C. DAVISON ANKNEY ) appellants
)
Applicants (Respondents) )
)
- and - )
)
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN ) Timothy Danson,
RIGHT OF ONTARIO as represented ) for the respondents
by the MINISTRY OF NATURAL )
RESOURCES and THE )
HONOURABLE JOHN SNOBELEN )
)
Respondents (Appellants) ) Heard: November 22, 2001
ABELLA J.A.:
BACKGROUND
3. [3] In October 1998, the Minister had asked his Deputy Minister
to meet with representatives of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and
Hunters (“OFAH”), the Northern Ontario Tourist Outfitters Association
(“NOTO”) and the Schad Foundation, an animal rights organization, in an
attempt to find some common ground for changes to the spring black bear
hunt. Three meetings were held. No consensus emerged from them.
4. [4] That December, the Minister requested that the Ministry
staff prepare a paper to consider alternatives to the status quo that would
reduce or eliminate cub orphaning in the spring.
5. [5] Early in January 1999, Premier Mike Harris called the Past
President of NOTO to advise him of the government’s intention to end the
spring bear hunt.
6. [6] On January 14, 1999, NOTO’s President wrote to the
Premier’s Office to request an immediate meeting to discuss the proposed
cancellation. As a result, the President of NOTO and other NOTO members
were invited to meet with Minster Snobelen to discuss the proposed
cancellation of the spring bear hunt.
7. [7] The meeting with NOTO took place on January 21, 1999.
During this meeting, the Minister explained the Ministry’s obligations
under the Environmental Bill of Rights process. He also discussed the
possibility of compensation for the industry and listened to concerns about
the economic consequences of the cancellation.
8. [8] That same day, a Notice of Proposal for a regulation that
would close the spring season for hunting black bears was posted by the
Ministry of Natural Resources on the Environmental Bill of Rights
Registry. The proposal’s stated purpose was to “eliminate the mistaken
shooting of female bears with young cubs during the spring open hunting
season”. The proposal also stated that “ending the spring bear hunt is the
only way to guarantee that females with young cubs are not mistakenly shot
during the hunt, thereby leaving orphans (which experience a high
mortality rate at this time of year)”.
9. [9] The Notice of Proposal stated that written submissions could
be made between January 21, 1999 and February 20, 1999. Thirty-five
thousand, three hundred and forty-seven submissions were received by the
government, 64 per cent opposing the government’s proposal to end the
spring bear hunt and 35 per cent in support of it.
10. [10] The Minster held a meeting with his staff on March 3, 1999
to consider these responses and decided to end the spring bear hunt.
1. • The growing concern from Ontario citizens that hunting bears in the
spring when nursing cubs are dependent on their mothers is inappropriate.
2. • The majority of the submissions in the EBR process were made by
hunters and bear hunt operators who opposed the proposed regulation, but
that the EBR process is not a vote or plebiscite.
3. • The respondents in favour of the government’s decision were mostly
unaffiliated with any particular group and likely represent a view held by a
large number of Ontarians.
4. • Cancellation of the spring bear hunt could cause some economic
hardship and the province should offer financial assistance to bear hunt
operators and assist the tourist industry to attract alternative forms of
tourism.
5. • The decision to close the spring bear hunt was not required for
sustainable management of black bears in Ontario.
27. [27] Section 113(1) of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act
states:
...
ANALYSIS
28. [28] The application for judicial review challenges the validity of
Ontario Regulation 670/98, as amended by Ontario Regulation 88/99,
which terminated the spring open hunting season for black bears from April
15 to June 15.
29. [29] The primary claim by OFAH is that the Minister followed
the dictates of the Premier rather than exercising his independent judgment,
and that the Regulation is invalid because the decision to cancel the spring
bear hunt was made for the extraneous reasons of political expedience and
humane hunting practices.
30. [30] As the majority in the Divisional Court correctly observed,
an examination under rule 39.03 is appropriate when the evidence sought is
relevant to any issue raised on the main application. (See Payne v. Ontario
(Human Rights Commission) (2000), 192 D.L.R. (4th) 315 (Ont. C.A.) and
Consortium Development (Clearwater) Ltd. v. Sarnia, [1998] 3 S.C.R. 3).
The onus is on the party seeking to conduct the examination to show on a
reasonable evidentiary basis that the examination would be conducted on
issues relevant to the pending application and that the proposed witness was
in a position to offer relevant evidence.
31. [31] The majority also acknowledged that courts should be careful
to ensure that a summons to witness directed to a Minister of the Crown
(a) Whether the Minister made the Decision at the Direction of the
Premier
33. [33] OFAH alleges undue pressure on the Minister from the
Premier resulting from a meeting on January 5 or 7, 1999 between Robert
Schad and the Premier. There is no evidence in this record of such a
meeting. The paragraph containing this allegation was struck from the
application record by the February 27, 2001 consent order of Dunnet J. and
there is therefore no evidence regarding the alleged meeting in the record
before this court.
34. [34] Even if there were evidence of such a meeting, or of Mr.
Schad’s influence on the Premier, or evidence that it was the Premier who
urged passage of the Regulation, none of these facts has any legal relevance
to whether the Regulation is valid.
35. [35] There is no doubt that Robert Schad and the Schad
Foundation are well known animal rights activists, that they sought the
cancellation of the spring bear hunt, and that they were committed to using
their influence to try to persuade the government to end the hunt. But
evidence of the Premier’s contact with Robert Schad, if there was any, or of
his calling the past president of NOTO to let him know the government’s
intention in January 1999, shows only that the Premier contacted major
stakeholders. These were some of the stakeholders that the Minister
himself had asked his Deputy to meet with in October 1998.
36. [36] The allegation that there has been a failure on the Minister’s
part to exercise any independent discretion in passing the Regulation also
ignores the fact that the passing of a regulation is not in itself an exercise of
independent ministerial discretion. Moreover, in Thorne’s Hardware
Limited v. The Queen, [1993] 1 S.C.R. 106, the Supreme Court of Canada
confirmed the irrelevance of motives in determining the validity of a
regulation:
...
...
39. [38] This judicial deference was applied and reinforced by this
court in TransCanada Pipelines Ltd. v. Beardmore (Township) (2000), 186
D.L.R (4th) 403 (Ont. C.A.), application for leave to appeal to the Supreme
Court of Canada dismissed [2000] S.C.C.A. No. 264, where the court held:
40. (See also East Luther Grand Valley v. Ontario (2000), 48 O.R. (3d)
247 at 254 (S.C.J.), appeal to the Divisional Court dismissed [1996] O.J.
No. 511, and Masse v. Ontario (1996), 134 D.L.R. (4th) 20 at 36-7 (Ont.
Div. Ct.), application for leave to appeal to the Ontario Court of Appeal
dismissed (1996), 89 O.A.C. 81, application for leave to appeal to the
Supreme Court of Canada dismissed (1996), 97 O.A.C. 240.)
41. [39] Even if the Regulation was influenced by the views of the
Premier, the Regulation is a decision of Cabinet, not of the Premier or any
individual minister. A minister opposed to such a decision may wish to
resign, but as Sir Ivor Jennings pointed out in Cabinet Government 3rd. ed.
(Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1963) at pp. 278-279:
43. [41] As for the argument that the minister lost jurisdiction by
considering extraneous factors, namely ethical and humane hunting
practices and political expediency, I start with the observation that the
judicial review of regulations, as opposed to administrative decisions, is
usually restricted to the grounds that they are inconsistent with the purpose
of the statute or that some condition precedent in the statute has not been
observed. The motives for their promulgation are irrelevant. This guiding
principle is set out in Reference Re: Validity of Regulations in Relation to
Chemicals [1943] S.C.R. 1 at 12:
45. [42] The regulation was passed pursuant to s. 113(1) of the Fish
and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997, which gives the Minister authority to
“make regulations prescribing open seasons or closed seasons for wildlife.”
46. [43] Regulation 670/98 established the open season for wildlife.
Prior to March 4, 1999, the regulation prescribed a spring open season for
black bears from April 15 to June 15 or 30, and a fall open season for black
bear hunting from September 1 to October 15 or 31. Black bears were the
only large game animals for which a spring hunting season was permitted.
47. [44] The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act received Royal
Assent on December 18, 1997 and was proclaimed on January 1, 1999. It
was enacted to provide a scheme of wildlife conservation and management
including the establishment of ethical, humane and responsible hunting
practices. The Act assigns to the government the responsibility for
balancing the interests of people against the welfare of animals to determine
what constitutes humane treatment or the unnecessary suffering of animals.
48. [45] Concerns regarding animal welfare, including humane and
ethical hunting practices, fall squarely within the policy and objectives of
51. [48] The stated purpose for closing the spring bear hunt, namely,
to prevent the mistaken shooting of nursing mothers of newly born cubs
that would starve to death if orphaned by the hunt, is therefore consistent
with the purposes of, and authorized by, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Act. It was therefore not beyond the Minister’s jurisdiction to take ethical
or humane hunting practices into account in cancelling the spring hunt.
Conclusion
59. [56] While I concede that Ministers of the Crown are not immune
from testifying under rule 39.03, in my view there is no justiciable issue
raised by the evidence in this case as to the validity of the Regulation. It
was made, according to the record, within and under the relevant legislation
and based on proper factors. Nor is there any reasonable evidentiary basis
for concluding that the evidence sought to be obtained from the proposed
examinations is relevant. Instead of the requisite evidence, what is offered
is speculation and allegations, neither of which, even if true, gives rise to a
valid challenge to the regulation.
60. [57] Moreover, in Re: Canada Metal Co. Ltd. et. al v. Heap et. al
(1975), 7 O.R. (2nd) 185 (C.A.), this court held that the test is not only
whether the evidence is relevant to an issue in dispute, but also whether the
right to examine would be an abuse of process, which includes considering
whether the underlying application has merit. There is, with respect, no
merit in the underlying application in this case. No justiciable
constitutional issues are raised in the underlying application since the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms creates no constitutionally protected right
to hunt in either s. 2(b) or s. 7. And even if the decision to cancel the spring
bear hunt was made unilaterally by the Premier, or if he directed the
Minister to cancel the hunt, or if the Minister took political expediency or
humane hunting practices into account, none of these facts would provide
any justification for setting aside the Regulation.
61. [58] The Minister was creating public policy through the statutory
authority to enact delegated legislation under s. 113(1) of the Act. The
regulation is authorized by the enabling legislation and there is therefore no
need for an examination of the Minister’s motives or for evidence about
whether he agrees with the Premier.
62. [59] The only recourse for this type of decision, based on the
evidence before us, is in the political not the judicial arena. In the absence
of a reasonable evidentiary foundation, therefore, permitting the applicants
to examine the Premier and the Minister about why the final decision to
FRESH EVIDENCE
64. [61] The test for the admission of fresh evidence is set out in R. v.
Palmer, [1980] 1 S.C.R. 759:
65. [62] The fresh evidence is from members of NOTO, which had
originally joined in the application for judicial review. Their evidence,
compendiously, seeks to elaborate on their understanding of how and why
the spring bear hunt was cancelled. In my view, for the following reasons,
this evidence does not meet the due diligence, relevance or determinative
branches of that test.
66. [63] The stated purpose of the fresh evidence is to create a
foundation for cross-examining the Premier of Ontario and his Minister
about the decision-making process and their motivation for passing the
Regulation. Since, for reasons stated above, neither the process nor
motivations behind the Regulation is relevant or reviewable in this case, the
proposed fresh evidence is accordingly irrelevant.
67. [64] Moreover, the fresh evidence does not meet the threshold for
admission for the following additional reasons: