BILL NO. 76

1st Session, 58th General Assembly
Nova Scotia
49 Elizabeth II, 2000

Government Bill

Motor Vehicle Act
(amended)

The Honourable Michael G. Baker, Q.C.
Minister of Justice

First Reading: November 6, 2000

(Explanatory Notes)

Second Reading:

Third Reading:

Clause 1 revises the motor vehicle inspection program.

Clause 2 revises the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act dealing with the seizure of vehicles and the procedure for selling seized vehicles.

Clause 4 permits the Registrar to prescribe the method of delivery of suspension and revocation notices.

Clause 5 provides that where a municipality has passed a by-law dealing with the seizure and forfeiture of a motor vehicle involved in the commission of a prostitution-related offence, a peace officer may detain a motor vehicle if the peace officer is satisfied that the vehicle was being operated in the course of committing an offence under section 211 (transporting person to a bawdy house), 212 (procuring) or 213 (offence in relation to prostitution) of the Criminal Code (Canada).

Clause 6 permits the adoption by reference of national and international commercial vehicle standards.

Clause 7 enables the Governor in Council to pass regulations prescribing a system of rating the performance of commercial motor vehicle carriers and drivers.

Be it enacted by the Governor and Assembly as follows:

1 (1) Subsections 201(1) and (2) of Chapter 293 of the Revised Statutes, 1989, the Motor Vehicle Act, are repealed and the following subsections substituted:

(1) No person shall conduct, maintain, operate, manage or hold himself or herself out as operating an official testing station unless the person is licensed to do so and the license has not expired or been cancelled or suspended.

(2) A person may apply to the Minister, in the manner prescribed by the regulations, for a license to operate an official testing station.

(2A) Subject to this Act and the regulations, the Minister may issue or renew a license and the license is valid for the person, location and type of vehicle indicated on the license.

(2B) The Minister may cancel, suspend or refuse to issue or renew a license where the Minister is satisfied that the licensee or an agent or employee of the licensee has violated this Act or the regulations.

(2C) A license is cancelled when the licensee ceases to operate or own the official testing station for which the license was issued.

(2) Subsection 201(7) of Chapter 293 is amended by

(a) striking out "operators" in the third line of clause (g) and substituting "licensees"; and

(b) repealing clause (m) and substituting the following clauses:

(m) establishing official testing stations and designating a garage as an official testing station;

(n) prescribing the duration of licenses issued pursuant to this Section and requiring the payment of annual or other periodic fees by licensees;

(o) prescribing the manner and fees for applying for a license;

(p) prescribing the term and fees for a tester's license;

(q) respecting the duties of persons who have been issued a license to operate an official testing station;

(r) permitting the recognition of an out-of-Province inspection sticker or certificate based upon a reciprocal agreement;

(s) prescribing the requirements of a person applying for a license;

(t) prescribing penalties for a violation of the regulations made pursuant to this Section.

(3) Subsection 201(8) of Chapter 293 is repealed and the following subsections substituted:

(8) Every person who operates an official testing station without a license is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a penalty of five hundred dollars for a first offence, seven hundred and fifty dollars for a second offence and one thousand dollars for a third or subsequent offence.

(9) Every person who fails to have the person's vehicle inspected or repaired as required by subsection (6) is guilty of an offence and is liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars for a first offence, two hundred dollars for a second offence and five hundred dollars for a third or subsequent offence.

2 Sections 275 and 276 of Chapter 293 are repealed and the following Sections substituted:

275 (1) Whenever any motor vehicle is seized, taken into custody or possession, or impounded under this Act or under a by-law passed by a municipality pursuant to Section 291E by an official of the Department or a peace officer or upon an order of the Minister or the Registrar, all charges necessarily incurred by the official, officer or person acting under that order in the performance of such duty are a lien upon the motor vehicle.

(2) Any person who is designated by an official of the Department, a peace officer or upon an order of the Minister or the Registrar to tow, store or perform other services in connection with the seizure, taking into custody or possession or impoundment of a motor vehicle has a lien on the vehicle for the charges for those services.

(3) Where the motor vehicle has been impounded for a period of thirty days, the official of the Department or peace officer who seized or impounded the motor vehicle or the person who ordered the seizure, taking into custody or possession, or impoundment of the motor vehicle may order the sale of the motor vehicle.

276 (1) Whenever a motor vehicle is sold by the Minister, the Registrar, the Department or a person who has a lien on the motor vehicle under this Act, the sale shall be by tender or by public auction and, at least seven days before the sale, notice of the sale shall be published in one or more newspapers published and circulated in the Province and at the same time mailed to the registered owner of the motor vehicle by registered mail addressed to the owner at the owner's name and address as they appear on the records of the Department.

(2) The proceeds of a sale referred to in subsection (1) shall be applied to the payment of any debt, lien or charge incurred in connection with the seizure, towing, taking into custody or possession, storage or impoundment of the motor vehicle and, where the proceeds are insufficient to pay all such debts, liens or charges, the proceeds shall be paid to the persons entitled thereto pari passu.

(3) Any proceeds remaining after payment of the debts, liens or charges referred to in subsection (2) shall be held by the Department for one month after the sale, and any claim or claims to the proceeds, or any portion thereof, must be established within the one-month period, and, after the one-month period has elapsed, where no claim to the proceeds has been established, the proceeds so held by the Department escheat to Her Majesty in right of the Province and all claims for interest in the motor vehicle or in the proceeds derived from the sale of the motor vehicle are forever barred.

3 (1) Section 279 of Chapter 293 is amended by adding immediately after subsection (2) the following subsection:

(2A) Where a hearing is held or an explanation offered pursuant to subsection (2) following the suspension of the license of a person for the reason that the Registrar believes that the person is afflicted with a mental or physical infirmity or disability rendering it unsafe for the person to operate a motor vehicle upon the highway, the Registrar may refer the information on the infirmity or disability that is available to the Registrar to a medical advisory committee appointed by the Minister pursuant to regulations respecting the classification of drivers' licenses for an opinion on the ability of the person to operate a motor vehicle.

(2) Subsection 279(3) of Chapter 293 is amended by adding "or the privilege of obtaining a driver's license" immediately after "license" in the second line.

4 (1) Subsection 290(1) of Chapter 293 is amended by striking out "by registered or certified mail from the Registrar" in the last two lines and substituting "in the manner prescribed by the Registrar".

(2) Subsection 290(2) of Chapter 293 is amended by striking out "by registered or certified mail" in the sixth line.

(3) Subsection 290(4) of Chapter 293 is amended by striking out "by registered or certified mail" in the fourth line.

5 Chapter 293 is further amended by adding immediately after Section 291D the following heading and Section:

SEIZURE AND FORFEITURE OF VEHICLES

IN PROSTITUTION-RELATED OFFENCES

291E (1) The purpose of this Section is to enable a municipality to enact by-laws to manage the traffic hazards and public nuisance caused by prostitution within a municipality.

(2) Subject to subsection (4), a municipality, as defined in the Municipal Government Act, may enact a by-law dealing with the seizure and forfeiture of a motor vehicle involved in the commission of a prostitution-related offence.

(3) Where a municipality enacts a by-law referred to in subsection (2), a peace officer, if satisfied that a motor vehicle is being operated in the course of committing an offence under section 211, 212 or 213 of the Criminal Code (Canada), may detain the motor vehicle that was being operated in the course of committing an offence under section 211, 212 or 213 of the Criminal Code (Canada).

(4) A by-law referred to in subsection (2) shall include

(a) procedures for the detention and impounding of a motor vehicle, including provisions requiring the owner of the motor vehicle to pay the costs of the detention and impounding;

(b) procedures for the return of personal property found in a motor vehicle detained or impounded by a peace officer that is not required for a prosecution;

(c) procedures for the release of a motor vehicle to the owner where

(i) the vehicle is stolen,

(ii) at the time the motor vehicle was detained, the driver was in possession of it without the knowledge and consent of its owner, or

(iii) the owner could not reasonably have known that the vehicle was being operated in the course of committing an offence referred to in subsection (3);

(d) procedures for an application to a justice of the peace for the release of a motor vehicle to the owner where the owner is not charged with an offence, including any fees to be paid by the owner;

(e) procedures for an application to a justice of the peace for an order releasing the motor vehicle to its owner upon payment of money or security;

(f) procedures for an application to a justice of the peace for the release of a motor vehicle to the owner where the owner is found not guilty of an offence referred to in subsection (3);

(g) procedures for an application to a justice of the peace for the release of a motor vehicle where the costs and charges related to the detention of the motor vehicle will or could amount to more than the value of the vehicle or the value of the interest of the owner of the vehicle, whichever is less;

(h) matters that may be considered by a justice of the peace in relation to an application pursuant to the by-law;

(i) procedures for the forfeiture of a motor vehicle where the owner of the vehicle is convicted of an offence referred to in subsection (3);

(j) a provision that service of an order or notice under the by-law on the driver of the motor vehicle is deemed to be service on and sufficient notice to the owner of the vehicle and, where there is an operator, the operator of the vehicle;

(k) provisions respecting the release of a motor vehicle by the person who operates the impound facility, including the payment of costs to that person; and

(l) a provision that costs incurred by the municipality in the detention, storing or disposing of a motor vehicle pursuant to the by-law are a debt due to the municipality that may be recovered by the municipality in a court of competent jurisdiction.

6 Subsection 303(1) of Chapter 293 is amended by adding immediately after clause (e) the following clause:

(ea) incorporating by reference any document as it exists when the regulations are made and incorporating by reference, as amended from time to time, any Act of the Parliament of Canada or regulations made pursuant thereto or any classification, standard, procedure or other specification;

7 Clause 303G(b) of Chapter 293 is repealed and the following clause substituted:

(b) prescribing a system of rating the performance of commercial motor vehicle carriers and drivers with respect to warnings, cancellations, suspensions, facility audits, safety inspections, trip inspections and contraventions of enactments of the Province, another reciprocating province of Canada, the Parliament of Canada, the United States of America or the Republic of Mexico relating to motor vehicles, and prescribing penalties, including suspension, that may be assessed against those carriers and drivers having an unsatisfactory rating;