R. v. Shaw, 2020 BCPC 253

Citation: R. v. Shaw 2020 BCPC 253 Date: 20201105 File No: 6764-1 Registry: Masset IN THE PROVINCIAL COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA REGINA v. ROBERT GORDON SHAW ORAL REASONS FOR SENTENCE OF THE HONOURABLE JUDGE D. PATTERSON Crown Counsel appearing by teleconference: A.M. Switzer Appearing on his own behalf by teleconference: R.G. Shaw Place of Hearing: Prince Rupert , B.C. Date of Hearing: November 5, 2020 Date of Judgment: November 5, 2020 [ 1 ] THE COURT: Mr.

Shaw entered a guilty plea to engaging in commercial fishing or being on board a vessel that was being used in commercial fishing without being registered, contrary to s. 25 of the Pacific Fishery Regulations, 1993 , thereby committing an offence contrary to s. 78(

a) of the Fisheries Act . He is now before the court for sentencing. [ 2 ]

Section 78(

a) of the Fisheries Act , reads: Except as otherwise provided in this Act, every person who contravenes this Act or the regulations is guilty of an offence punishable on

summary conviction and liable, for a first offence, to a fine not exceeding one hundred

thousand dollars and, for any subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both. [ 3 ] So you can appreciate, Mr.

Shaw, that while your offence is not such that you are going to be looking at a huge fine like $100,000, the reality is that, when it comes to regulatory offences, which is, you know, what this is -- [ 4 ] THE ACCUSED (via teleconference): Mm-hmm. [ 5 ] THE COURT: -- not only specific deterrence, that is for you, but general deterrence, so that other people do not do the same thing, is something that I am required to take into consideration. And, when it comes to fishing cases, the reality is that the courts have repeatedly held that deterrence is the key component for sentencing.

And -- [ 6 ] THE ACCUSED: Yeah. [ 7 ] THE COURT: -- We have a Supreme Court Judge who regularly sits here in Prince Rupert, Mr. Justice Punnett, and he gave a decision called R. v. Schafhauser back in 2017, reported at 2017 BCSC 2287 , and he said the following words, and I think it is important you hear the words: [11] The Fisheries Act is regulatory legislation designed to protect and preserve a valuable resource and any contravention of it must be taken seriously.

Accordingly, the predominant sentencing consideration must be deterrence, both specifically of the accused and generally of other members of the public who are inclined to act in the same manner. Penalties must be sufficiently severe to communicate to the accused that there is a high risk associated with their illegal activities both for the resource they are affecting and to themselves for their conduct . . . [12] In this instance, the sentencing judge appropriately highlighted the need for an appropriate sentence to deter similar conduct by the commercial fishing community generally and specifically by Mr.

Schafhauser. I note that many of the authorities refer to the fact that a penalty should be more than simply a cost of doing business. In particular, in this instance, that is significant because [there] is a regulatory statute designed to preserve a valuable resource. In sentencing on regulatory offences, our Court of Appeal has accepted the following sentencing principles: culpability, prior record, acceptance of responsibility and remorse, the damage or harm done, and deterrence . . . [ 8 ] So, in your case, Mr.

Shaw, I accept that you have no prior record for this, although you were warned by fisheries officers on a couple previous occasions. [ 9 ] THE ACCUSED: Yeah. Yeah. [ 10 ] THE COURT: You have accepted responsibility, and I take it, by the very fact that you are entering a guilty plea, that you are showing some remorse, and you are thinking to yourself, "Geez, what an idiot I was. I should've gone online and got the licence." [ 11 ] THE ACCUSED: Yeah.

Well, now I know, it's like -- it's -- yeah, there's a deterrence and stuff like that, and I'm not -- [ 12 ] THE COURT: Yes, exactly, and the -- [ 13 ] THE ACCUSED: I'm not -- [ 14 ] THE COURT: -- penalty I am going to impose will act as a deterrence. And you have -- [ 15 ] THE ACCUSED: I'm not going to want to -- [ 16 ] THE COURT: -- accepted responsibility. [ 17 ] THE ACCUSED: -- go through this again and stuff, like that's for sure, so . . . [ 18 ] THE COURT: All right. So, in all the circumstances, sir, I am agreeable with Ms. Switzer.

I think, given the fact that you are, for lack of a better term, a career fisherman, you knew better, you did not do it. [ 19 ] THE ACCUSED: Yeah. [ 20 ] THE COURT: A $500 fine is appropriate, in my opinion, and, consequently, your penalty will be a $500 fine. How much time do -- [ 21 ] THE ACCUSED: Okay. [ 22 ] THE COURT: -- you need to pay that, sir? [ 23 ] THE ACCUSED: Um, I don't know. I can get it cleared up pretty quick here, so . . [ 24 ] THE COURT: Well, let me give you until December 31, 2020 to pay it, okay? [ 25 ] THE ACCUSED: Okay.

That's -- that's perfect. [ 26 ] THE COURT: All right. [ 27 ] THE ACCUSED: How do I go about paying it, though? Like --

[ 28 ] THE COURT: You will have to go to a court registry. So there is one in Campbell River. [ 29 ] THE ACCUSED: Yeah. Okay. [ 30 ] THE COURT: And you will have to take your court file number, which is the 6764-1. [ 31 ] THE ACCUSED: Six seven six four. Yeah, okay. [ 32 ] THE COURT: Six seven six four dash one from Masset, and make sure they know it is a Masset file. And you will just -- [ 33 ] THE ACCUSED: Yeah. [ 34 ] THE COURT: -- tell them, "Hey, Judge Patterson fined me on this file $500 and I need to pay my fine," and they will look it up on the computer for you. [ 35 ] THE ACCUSED: Okay.

Okay, great. [ 36 ] THE COURT: All right. Thank you very much, sir. [ 37 ] THE ACCUSED: Okay. Thank you. [ 38 ] THE CLERK: Disconnecting. (REASONS CONCLUDED)