Mr. Justice MacKay followed his early decision in R. v. Mathews (digested herein) to hold that the Minister of Fisheries cannot use section 7 of the Fisheries Act to impose licence sanctions. In doing so, he distinguished Comeau Seafoods Ltd. v. Canada (digested herein). He then went on to hold that even if he is wrong, the imposition of a …

This case involved an East Coast snow crab fisherman who allegedly failed to comply with the terms and conditions of his licence by both failing to hail before changing areas and exceeding his quota on three different occasions. Although a prosecution in the courts was commenced, instead of continuing the prosecution, the Department of Fisheries decided to seek a licence …