Decision Date: February 4, 1998

Panel: Christie Mayall

Keywords: Wildlife Act – s. 101 (10); hunting out of season; licence suspension; length of penalty to reflect the seriousness of the offence

The Appellant had been convicted of killing a doe mule deer out of season and was fined $200. The Deputy Director of Wildlife subsequently cancelled the Appellant’s hunting licence for a period of three years. This was an appeal from that decision. The appellant submitted that the license suspension in addition to the fine seemed unreasonable. After examining the evidence, the Panel decided that the shooting of the doe had been unintentional and that there was little evidence to show that the Appellant did not intend to report the incident. There was therefore a difference between the magnitude of the violation in this case and another cited in the appeal in which a three-year licence suspension had also been imposed. The Panel found that the length of a licence suspension should reflect the seriousness of the offence, and that in this case the three year penalty was arbitrary.

The Panel returned the matter to the Respondent and directed him to reconsider the length of the licence suspension. The other part of the Respondent’s decision, ordering that the Appellant successfully complete the Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Education examination, was upheld. The appeal was allowed.