For some Member States, the infringement proceedings also included an alleged breach of Articles 2, 4 and 5 mirrored by a poor collection rate.

They are raised with alarm because they are not isolated incidents and a pattern has developed over the past two and one-half years; a disdain for the rule of law, for the presumption of innocence, for constitutional obligations, for compassion for the weak and persecuted.

We would like to make the following recommendations: maximum fines should be preserved, and minimum fines removed, so that penalties can be adapted to the circumstances; the presumption of innocence must be recognized; a distinction must be drawn between accidental and intentional offences and between discharges of large and small quantities; there must be compliance with Canadian standards in the area of corporate liability; steps must be taken to ensure the bill is consistent with the letter and spirit of the international conventions to which Canada is a signatory; last, the bill should contain a provision drawing attention to th ...[+++]e existence of these conventions.