1969 Bill 67 Second Session, 16th Legislature, 18 Elizabeth II THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ALBERTA BILL 67

An Act to amend The Forests Act, 1961 THE MINISTER OF LANDS AND FORESTS First Reading ............................. . Second Reading ............................ . Third Reading ............................. . Printed by L. S. Wall, Queen's Printer, Edmonton

BILL 67 1969

An Act to amend The Forests Act, 1961 (Assented to , 1969) HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Alberta, enacts as follows: 1'. The Forests Act, 1961 is hereby amended.

Section 48 is amended by striking out subsection (3) and by substituting the following:

(3) Subject to this Act and the regulations, a fire per­ mit authorizes the permittee to set out fire only in accord­ ance with and subj ect to such terms and conditions as the issuing officer or honorary fire guardian, as the case may be, may write thereon.

Section 49 is amended (

a) as to subsection (1) by striking out the words ", and may contain such other terms and conditions as the issuing officer deems necessary", (

b) as to subsection (2) by adding after the words "by an officer" the words "or an honorary fire guardian, as the case may be", (

c) by adding the following after subsection (2):

(3) The Minister may by order (

a) cancel, or (

b) suspend for a fixed period or until further order, all fire permits issued under this Act with respect to (

c) the entire Province, or (

d) any part of the Province, and the order shall be immediately published by means of radio broadcast or by television broad­ cast, or both where available, at least twice a day

Explanatory Notes I. This Bill amends 'chapter 32 of the Statutes of Alber,ta, 1961. 2.

Section 48 (3) pr,esently Teads:

(3) A fire permit gives authority to the permittee to set out fire only according to the regulations and the terms and conditions ,pninted on the .p:ermit.

Section 49 presently reads: 49.

(1) A fire pe,rmit may be limited as to .duraHon and area, but in any event expires in the 31st day of March next following the date of its issue, and may contain such other terms and 'conditions as the issuing oUker .deems necessary.

(2) A fire permit may be cancelled or suspended at any time by an officer, and immediately upon receiving nottce of such cancellation or suspensi.on the permittee shalJ.extinguish any fdre set 0Ut under the permit. The Minister given overriding power of cancellation or suspen­ sion.

for at least two consecutive days on networks that regularly serve the area to be affected by the order.

(4) Upon being notified of a cancellation or suspension order made under subsection (3), (

a) every permittee shall immediately extinguish any fire set out under the permit, and (

b) every person shall extinguish every open out­ door fire set by him or under his authority or located on land owned or occupied by him.

Section 52 is amended by adding the following after clause (e) : (

f) clearing land for any purpose other than those men­ tioned in clauses (

b) and (c), or (

g) any other activity, whether or not involving the the clearing of land or construction and whether or not commercial in nature, declared by the Lieu­ tenant Governor in Council to be an activity to which this

section applies.

Section 65b is struck out and the following is sub­ stituted: 65b. Every person who (

a) lights an outdoor fire without first taking suf­ ficient precautions to ensure that the fire can be kept under control at all times, or (

b) lights an outdoor fire when weather conditions are conducive to a fire readily escaping out of con­ trol, or (

c) fails to take reasonable steps to suppress a fire for the purpose of preventing it from spreading onto land other than his own, or (

d) ne?,lects to immediately report to the nearest offIcer, h0!l0rary fire guardian or appropriate city, town or VIllage authority, the fact and location of a fire that is out of control, is guilty of an offence . . G. This Act comes into force on the day upon which it IS assented to.

Section 52 presently reads: 52. Where fire originates in any area in which any person either by himself or his employees or S'omeone on his behalf, is carrying on, (

a) any logging, mining or industrial operation, or (

b) clearing of land for a right of way for any road, trail, tote­ road, ditch ,or flume, or fnr any microwave installat<ion, tele­ phone, te-Legraph, power 0-1' pipe line, or (

c) clearing land to be flooded for water storage purposes, or (od) constructing a dam, bridge or camp or any other woods oper­ ation lof any kind,or (

e) operating any mill for the purpose of manufacturing timber, -in the absence of reason3Jble evidence that the fire may have occurred from causes other than such operations, except where the per-son has entered into an agreement under

section 59, the onus is upon that person to prove that the fire did not result from such operations, and in the absence of such proof that person shall bear the full cost of controlling and extinguishing the fin'.

Section 65b presently reads: 6,5b. Any person who fails to prevent a fire on land owned o·r oc­ cupied by him from spreading to ,other land or fails to keep the fire under control, or fails to keep a fire under control that is under his charge or custody, or under the charge or custody of a servant, agent or contractor, is guilty of an offence. Title: 1969 (16th, 2nd) Bill 67,

An Act to amend The Forests Act, 1961