First

Session, 51st General Assembly

Charles III, 2026

BILL 8

AN ACT TO AMEND THE WILD LIFE ACT

Received

and Read the First Time ................................................................

Second

Reading ............................................................................................

Committee .....................................................................................................

Third

Reading ...............................................................................................

Royal

Assent .................................................................................................

HONOURABLE PLEAMAN

FORSEY

Minister of Forestry,

Agriculture and Lands

Ordered to be printed by

the Honourable House of Assembly

EXPLANATORY NOTES

This Bill would amend the Wild Life Act to

amend the definition of fur

bearing animal to include coyote;

amend the definition of

trafficking to include the illegal bartering, exchange, selling or trading of

wild life;

add a definition of vehicle;

remove references to badges;

remove the authority to make

regulations to control and licence the sale of ammunition as it is regulated by

the federal Firearms Act ;

clarify the language regarding

the search powers of wild life officers;

allow wild life

officers to apply for a telewarrant ;

clarify the language regarding

seizure and forfeiture;

increase the amount

of fines for offences under the Act and the regulations;

add a limitation period for

instituting proceedings in respect of an offence under the Act or regulations;

replace references to the

number "1" with the word "one"; and

replace all references to

"Trial Division" with the correct reference "Supreme

Court".

A BILL

AN ACT TO AMEND THE WILD

LIFE ACT

Analysis

S.2 Amdt.

Definitions

S.4 Amdt.

Terms defined

S.7 Amdt.

Regulations

S.13 Amdt.

S.13.1 Added

Telewarrant

S.15 Amdt.

Seizure and confiscation

S.16 Rep.

Seizure and disposition

S.17 Amdt.

Application by person claiming interest

S.18 R&S

Offence and penalty

S.19 Amdt.

Personating wild life officer

S.21 R&S

Prohibition of waste

S.25 Amdt.

Non-resident

S.27 R&S

Penalty re: moose or caribou

S.29 Amdt.

Prohibition against holding hunting licence

S.31 Added

Limitation period

Commencement

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and

House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

RSNL1990 cW-8

as amended

(1) Paragraph 2(

d) of the Wild Life Act is repealed and the following substituted:

(d) "fur bearing animal" means wild life known as beaver, coyote, fisher,

fox, lynx, marten, mink, muskrat, otter, squirrel, weasel, wolf and wolverine;

(2) Paragraph 2(n.1) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(n.1) "trafficking"

means the illegal bartering, exchange, selling or trading of wild life;

(3) Section 2 of the Act is amended by adding

immediately after paragraph (

p) the following:

(p.1) "vehicle" means

a device upon or in which a person or property may be transported or drawn over

land, water, snow, ice, marsh, swampland and other natural terrain and includes

an aircraft or air-cushioned vehicle;

2. Paragraph 4(

b) of the Act is amended by

deleting the number "1" and substituting the word "one".

3. (1) Paragraphs 7(1)(

b) and (

c) of the Act are

repealed and the following substituted:

(

b) to provide for the

issue, suspension and cancellation of licences or permits to fish for, take or

kill a fish and in the regulations provision may be made for the issue of those

licences or permits with general application throughout the province or for the

issue of different kinds of licenses or permits in different areas of the

province, and of the restriction to a prescribed quota of those licences or

permits issued in respect of specified areas of the province, and where the

issue of licences or permits with respect to a specified area of the province

is restricted to a prescribed quota, provision may be made for the issue of a

prescribed percentage of that quota to a specified class of persons;

(

c) to provide for the

issue, suspension and cancellation of licences or permits to hunt, take, or

kill wild life , either generally or subject to

limitations as to quantities or numbers, and for the conditions which may be

attached to those licences or permits or to which those licences or permits may

be subject;

(2) Paragraph 7(1)(

q) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(

q) to control and

regulate the conduct of and the issue of licences to guides and other paid helpers;

(3) Paragraph 7(1)(

u) of the Act is repealed.

4. (1) Subsection 13(1) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(1) A wild life officer may,

at reasonable times and where it is reasonably necessary to determine

compliance with this Act or the regulations, enter upon

a premises or place or stop a vehicle and require the

production of a licence or permit.

(2) Section 13 of the Act is amended by adding

immediately after subsection (1) the following:

(1.1) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a wild life officer shall not enter a dwelling-house without

the consent of the occupant except under the authority of a warrant issued

under subsection (3) or

section 13.1.

(3) Subsections 13(2) and (3) of the Act are

repealed and the following substituted:

(2) Where a wild life

officer believes on reasonable grounds that a person has contravened this Act

or the regulations, a wild life officer may, with a warrant issued under

subsection (3) or subsection 13.1(1), at a reasonable time, enter upon a

premises, place or vehicle and may investigate, inquire into, inspect and

examine anything in respect of which the investigation is being made.

(3) A Provincial Court

judge who is satisfied by information upon oath or affirmation that there are

reasonable grounds for believing that there is on a premises, place or vehicle

(

a) anything on or in

respect of which an offence under this Act or the regulations has been, or is

suspected to have been, committed;

(

b) anything that there

are reasonable grounds to believe will give evidence with respect to an offence

under this Act or the regulations or will reveal the whereabouts of a person

who is believed to have committed an offence under this Act or the regulations;

(

c) property related to

an offence,

may at any time issue

a warrant authorizing a wild life officer to enter and

search the premises, place or vehicle for the thing and seize it.

(4) Subsection 13(4) of the Act is amended by

(

a) deleting the words "place, vehicle,

aircraft, vessel, boat or raft" and substituting the words "place or

vehicle"; and

(

b) deleting the word "office" and

substituting the word "officer".

5. The Act is amended by adding immediately after

section 13 the following:

Telewarrant

13.1

(1) Where , in the opinion of a wild life

officer, it would not be practical to appear before a Provincial Court judge to

apply for a warrant, the wild life officer may make

the application by telephone or other means of telecommunication.

(2) Where a wild life officer acts under the authority of a warrant

obtained under this section, the wild life officer shall

provide a facsimile of the warrant to the owner or person in charge of a

premise, place or vehicle present at the time the warrant is carried out.

(3) In subsection (2),

"facsimile" includes a record produced by electronic means or a

written record of a telephone conversation made by both parties to the

conversation while it is in progress and which the parties have confirmed as to

its accuracy by reading their record of the conversation to one another at the

end of the conversation.

6. (1) Subsections 15(1) and (2) of the Act are

repealed and the following substituted:

Seizure and

confiscation

(1) A wild life officer who has

reasonable grounds to suspect that

(

a) a material,

implement, appliance or thing has been used;

(

b) wild

life has been taken, killed or

possessed; or

(

c) a gun or firearm is being stored or

transported

in violation of this Act or the regulations may, on view,

seize it and a paper, document or record in the possession of the person

concerned at the time of the seizure and which in the wild life officer's

opinion might give evidence of the commission of an offence under this Act or

the regulations and other material, implement, appliance or thing in the

possession of the person concerned at the time of seizure and capable of use in

taking, killing, possessing, storing or transporting the kind of wild life with

which the suspected use, taking, killing or possessing is connected, including

a gun or firearm, silencer, trap, decoy, snare, light, dog team, vehicle,

refrigerator, storage locker or container or electronic device or equipment.

(2) Anything seized

under subsection (1) shall be retained in the custody of the wild

life officer making the seizure or shall be delivered into the custody

of the person that the minister directs.

(2) Subsection 15(11) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(11) Anything seized

under subsection (1), or the cash deposit or bond in respect of it made under

subsection (9), or the proceeds realized, less expenses involved in the sale,

from a sale under subsection (3), except a thing forfeited under subsection

(8), shall be returned or paid to the person from whom the thing or cash

deposit or bond was taken where no prosecution in respect of the alleged

offence is instituted, and shall be returned or paid upon the expiration of 3

months from the day of the seizure unless before that time proceedings in

respect of the alleged offence are instituted.

(3) Subsection 15(12) of the Act is amended by

deleting the words "a forfeited item" and substituting the word

"anything".

(4) Subsection 15(13) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

(13) Where anything has

been seized under subsection (1), or a cash deposit or bond in respect of it

has been made under subsection (9), and the proceedings in respect of the

offence have been instituted, but the thing, cash deposit or bond or proceeds

realized from a sale under subsection (3) are not at the conclusion of the

proceedings ordered to be forfeited under subsections (5) or (6) and have not

been forfeited under subsection (8), the thing, cash deposit or bond or

proceeds of sale, less expenses involved in the sale, shall be returned or paid

to the person from whom the thing was taken, or cash deposit or bond received,

unless there has been a conviction and a fine imposed, in which case the thing

may be detained until the fine is paid, or the cash deposit or bond made under

subsection (9) or the proceeds realized from a sale of wild life or other

perishable thing under subsection (3), less expenses involved in the sale, may

be applied in or towards payment of the fine, and the cash deposit or bond not

so applied may be paid to the person entitled to it out of the Consolidated

Revenue Fund.

(5) Subsection 15(13.1) of the Act is amended by

deleting the words "Trial Division" and substituting the words

"Supreme Court".

Section 16 of the Act is repealed.

8. (1) Subsection 17(1) of the Act is repealed and

the following substituted:

Application by

person claiming interest

(1) Where anything is seized under subsection 15(1) and

forfeited to the Crown under subsection 15(5), (6), (7) or (8), a person other

than a person convicted of the offence that resulted in the forfeiture or a

person in possession of the thing when it was seized, who claims an interest in

the thing as owner, mortgagee, lienholder or holder of a life interest may,

within 30 days after the forfeiture, apply by written notice to a Provincial

Court judge for an order under subsection (4).

(2) Subsection 17(5) of the Act is amended by

deleting the words "Trial Division" and substituting the words

"Supreme Court".

(3) Paragraph 17(9)(

b) of the Act is amended by

deleting the words "Trial Division" and substituting the words

"Supreme Court".

Section 18 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Offence and

penalty

18. A person who obstructs or resists a wild life officer,

licensed guide or warden while the wild life officer, licensed guide or warden

is engaged in exercising the powers or discharging the duties conferred or

imposed under this Act or the regulations is guilty of an offence and liable on

summary conviction to a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $25,000

and in default of payment to imprisonment for a period not exceeding 9 months.

10. Subsection 19(1) of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Personating wild life officer

(1) A person who

(

a) falsely represents

to be a wild life officer; and

(

b) not being a wild life officer, uses a badge or

article of uniform or

equipment in a manner that is likely to cause persons to believe that the

person is a wild life officer

is guilty of an

offence and liable on

summary conviction to a fine of not less than $500 and

not more than $25,000 and in default of payment, to imprisonment for a period

not exceeding 6 months.

Section 21 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Prohibition of

waste

21. A person who, having taken or killed wild life appropriate

for food, wilfully or intentionally allows its flesh to be destroyed, wasted or

spoiled, and a person who, having taken or killed a fur bearing animal,

wilfully or intentionally allows their skins to be destroyed, wasted or

spoiled, is guilty of an offence and liable on

summary conviction to a fine not

less than $500 and not more than $25,000 and, in default of payment, to

imprisonment for a period not exceeding 3 months.

12. Subsection 25(1) of the Act is amended by

deleting the number "1" and substituting the word "one".

Section 27 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Penalty re: moose

or caribou

(1) A person who

(

a) contravenes a

requirement or obligation imposed on the person by the regulations or an order

made under them; or

(

b) fails to observe or

fulfil a condition attached to a licence or permit issued to the person under

the regulations,

that relates to

caribou or moose is guilty of an offence.

(2) Where a person is convicted of an offence

under subsection (1), that person is liable on

summary conviction,

(

a) for a first offence,

to a fine of not less than $2,000 and not more than $25,000 or to imprisonment

for a term of not less than one month and not more than 6 months or to both a

fine and imprisonment; and

(

b) for a second or

subsequent offence that occurs within 5 years of a previous conviction, to a

fine of not less than $6,000 and not more than $25,000 and to imprisonment for

a term of not less than one month and not more than 6 months.

14. (1) Subsections 29(1) and (2) of the Act are

repealed and the following substituted:

Prohibition

against holding hunting licence

(1) Where a person is convicted of an offence under

section 27,

if it is not an offence to which subsection (2) applies, the convicting

Provincial Court judge shall, in addition to another penalty imposed for the

offence,

(

a) c ancel all hunting licences

held by that person;

(

b) make an order

prohibiting that person from holding a hunting licence for a period of 5 years

from the date of conviction; and

(

c) where that person

does not hold a hunting licence, make an order prohibiting that person from

holding a hunting licence for a period of 5 years from the date of conviction.

(2) Where a person is

convicted of an offence under

section 27 and it is a second or subsequent

offence by the person under that

section committed within a period of 2 years

after an earlier offence under that

section for which the person was convicted,

the convicting Provincial Court judge shall, in addition to another penalty

imposed for the offence, make an order permanently prohibiting the person from

holding a hunting licence.

(2) Subsection 29(3) of the Act is amended by

deleting the number "1" and substituting the word "one".

15. The Act is amended by adding immediately after

section 30 the following:

Limitation period

31. A proceeding in respect of an offence under this Act or the

regulations may be instituted not later than 3 years after the subject matter

of the proceedings is discovered.

Commencement

16. This Act, or a section, subsection, paragraph or

subparagraph of this Act, comes into force on a day or days to be proclaimed by

the Lieutenant-Governor in Council.

King's Printer