R. v. Turnbull (D.K.), (2015) 363 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 180 (NLPC)

• Judge: Joy, P.C.J.
• Court: Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Court (Canada)
• Case Date: February 20, 2015
• Jurisdiction: Newfoundland and Labrador
• Citations: (2015), 363 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 180 (NLPC);2015 NLPC 1712

R. v. Turnbull (D.K.) (2015), 363 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 180 (NLPC);

    1129 A.P.R. 180

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2015] Nfld. & P.E.I.R. TBEd. MR.007

Her Majesty the Queen v. Darrell Kirby Turnbull

(2015 NLPC 1712A00698)

Indexed As: R. v. Turnbull (D.K.)

Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Court

Joy, P.C.J.

February 20, 2015.

Summary:

Turnbull shot and killed a polar bear on the sea ice outside of Seal Cove, near Meadow Island, Labrador. A Provincial Wildlife Officer charged Turnbull with killing a polar bear without a license, killing it outside of the open season for killing polar bears, and taking a polar bear in a prohibited area.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Court dismissed the charges. Turnbull had made out the defence of reasonable or due diligence. In any event, the Crown had failed to prove two essential elements of the offences, namely, that the alleged offences occurred within the province including inland waters, and that polar bears, as marine mammals, were within the subject matter or material jurisdiction of the province.

Constitutional Law - Topic 773

Territorial limits - Provinces - Newfoundland and Labrador - [See Constitutional Law - Topic 776 ].

Constitutional Law - Topic 776

Territorial limits - Provinces - Territorial sea - Turnbull shot and killed a polar bear on the sea ice outside of Seal Cove, near Meadow Island, Labrador - A Provincial Wildlife Officer charged Turnbull with killing a polar bear without a license, killing it outside of the open season for killing polar bears, and taking a polar bear in a prohibited area - The Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Court dismissed the charges - The court held, inter alia, that the Crown had not proven that the Queen in Right of the Province had subject matter or material jurisdiction over polar bears - In pith and substance, polar bears were marine mammals, and as such fell under the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government - Further, the Crown had not proven that the alleged offences occurred within the province, including inland waters - The general rule was that the province ended at the low-water mark - The Crown provided only one drawing in its evidence and that clearly indicated that the kill site was outside the "jaws of the land" of Seal Cove - The Crown, as a part of its argument, submitted a further map or chart with a closing line drawn on it across a couple of headlands - The map or chart had no provenance attached to it, and in any event was an attempt to enter evidence after the close of the Crown's case - The Crown did not refer to the provisions of the Oceans Act, or to the provisions of the Territorial Sea Geographical Coordinates Order - The Crown also did not refer to the appropriate Canadian Hydrographic Chart cited in the order - The Crown did not avail of the opportunity set out in the Oceans Act to file as a part of its evidence a certificate issued by or under the authority of the Minister of Foreign Affairs containing a statement that any geographic location specified in the certificate was, at any time material to the proceedings, in the internal waters of Canada under s. 23 of the Oceans Act - See paragraphs 25 to 146 and 176 to 178.

Constitutional Law - Topic 5551

Federal jurisdiction (s. 91) - General - [See Constitutional Law - Topic 776 ].

Constitutional Law - Topic 6753

Provincial jurisdiction (s. 92) - General principles - Territorial limitation - [See Constitutional Law - Topic 776 ].

Fish and Game - Topic 1700

Offences - General - Intention or mens rea - Offences of strict liability - Turnbull shot and killed a polar bear on the sea ice outside of Seal Cove, near Meadow Island, Labrador - A Provincial Wildlife Officer charged Turnbull with killing a polar bear without a license, killing it outside of the open season for killing polar bears, and taking a polar bear in a prohibited area - The Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Court dismissed the charges - The court held, inter alia, that Turnbull exercised reasonable or due diligence to comply with the Wild Life Act and its regulations - He was protecting himself, his wife, his nine year old daughter and his cabin, when he made his decision to shoot the polar bear - The legal principle of self-defence and the defence of necessity were necessarily a part of the defence of reasonable or due diligence - Turnbull did not try to benefit from the killing of the bear - He reported the killing of the bear at the first reasonable opportunity - See paragraphs 159 to 174.

Fish and Game - Topic 2310

Hunting offences - General principles - Jurisdiction - Territorial - [See Constitutional Law - Topic 776 ].

Trials - Topic 1172

Summary convictions - Strict liability offences - Defence of due diligence or error of fact - [See Fish and Game - Topic 1700 ].

Cases Noticed:

Newfoundland Reference Re Continental Shelf, [1984] 1 S.C.R. 86; 51 N.R. 362, consd. [para. 44].

Reference Re Mineral and Natural Resources of the Continental Shelf Appurtenant to Newfoundland (1983), 41 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 271; 119 A.P.R. 271; 145 D.L.R.(3d) 9 (Nfld. C.A.), consd. [para. 44].

Ace-Atlantic Container Express Inc., Re (1992), 100 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 271; 318 A.P.R. 271 (Nfld. C.A.), consd. [para. 53].

R. v. Roff (D.J.) (1996), 146 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 87; 456 A.P.R. 87 (Nfld. C.A.), consd. [para. 53].

Canada v. Nichol, 2005 CarswellNfld 391 (Prov. Ct.), consd. [para. 53].

R. v. Seward, 2006 CarswellNfld 396 (Prov. Ct.), refd to. [para. 53].

Canada (Attorney General) v. British Columbia (Attorney General) et al., [1984] 1 S.C.R. 388; 52 N.R. 335, refd to. [para. 63].

Ownership of the Bed of the Strait of Georgia, Re - see Canada (Attorney General) v. British Columbia (Attorney General) et al.

Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Ltd. v. Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada Local 60N (1999), 179 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 236; 546 A.P.R. 236 (N.L.T.D.), consd. [para. 101].

R. v. Newfoundland Recycling Ltd., [2004] N.J. No. 332 (Prov. Ct.), consd. [para. 101].

R. v. Keyn (1876), 2 Ex. D. 63, consd. [para. 120].

Harris v. Owners of "Franconia" (1877), 2 C.P.D. 173, refd to. [para. 122].

Reference re Offshore Mineral Rights of British Columbia, 1967 CanLII 71 (S.C.C.), refd to. [para. 122].

Direct United States Cable Co. v. Anglo-American Telegram Co. (1877), 2 App. Cas. 394 (P.C.), refd to. [para. 127].

R. v. Cunningham (1859), Bell C.C. 72, refd to. [para. 127].

Bosner v. La Macchia (1969), 122 C.L.R. 177, refd to. [para. 127].

Admiralty Case (1611), 12 Co. Rep. 79, refd to. [para. 132].

Fagernes, The, [1927] P. 311, refd to. [para. 134].

Mahler v. Norwich and New York Transportation Co. (1866), 35 N.Y. 352, refd to. [para. 134].

United States v. Grush (1829), 5 Mason 290, refd to. [para. 134].

Commonwealth v. Peters (1847), 53 Mass. 387, refd to. [para. 134].

Durham v. Lamphere (1855), 69 Mass. 268, refd to. [para. 134].

Manley v. The People (1852), 7 N.Y. 295, refd to. [para. 134].

R. v. Martin (1991), 43 O.A.C. 378; 1991 CanLII 7340 (C.A.), affd. (1992), 145 N.R. 161 (S.C.C.) consd. [para.147].

R. v. City of Sault Ste. Marie, [1978] 2 S.C.R. 1299; 21 N.R. 295, 1978 CanLII 11, refd to. [para. 154].

Reference Re Section 94(2) of the Motor Vehicle Act (B.C.) (1985), 63 N.R. 266; 1985 CanLII 81 (S.C.C.), refd to. [para. 158].

R. v. Cancoil Thermal Corp. (1986), 14 O.A.C. 225; 27 C.C.C.(3d) 295 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 158].

R. v. Feehan (1989), 79 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 133; 246 A.P.R. 133; 1989 CanLII 271 (P.E.I.T.D.), refd to. [para. 158].

R. v. Wholesale Travel Group Inc. and Chedore (1989), 35 O.A.C. 331; 1989 CanLII 4250 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 158].

R. v. D.W., [1991] 1 S.C.R. 742; 122 N.R. 277; 46 O.A.C. 352, refd to. [para. 169].

Statutes Noticed:

Oceans Act, S.C. 1996, c. 31, sect. 5, sect. 6 [para. 138]; sect. 23, sect. 24 [para. 140].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Brown, E.D., The Legal Regime of Hydrospace (1971), generally [para. 27].

Brown, E.D., The International Law of the Sea, vols. I and II (1994) [para. 27].

Currie, Robert J., International & Transnational Criminal Law (2011), ch. 8 [para. 31].

DeMaster, D., and Stirling, I., "Ursus maritimus" 1981 Mammalian Species, 145: 1-7 [para. 35].

Doyle, Gerald S., Old-Time Songs and Poetry of Newfoundland: Songs from the People from the Days of Our Forefathers (4th Ed. 1966), p. 39 [para. 66].

Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, vol. 5, p. 402 [para. 65].

Fulton, The Sovereignty of the Sea (1911), pp. 118 to 124, 576 to 580 [para. 134].

Guy, Ray, That Far Greater Bay (1976), generally [para. 68].

Hale, De Jure Maris, generally [para. 136].

Halleck, International Law (1st Ed. 1861), ch. 6, s. 16 [para. 134].

Halsbury's Laws of England, generally [para. 119].

Hinterland Who's Who, www.hww.ca/ en/species/ mammals/polar-bear.html, [para. 38].

Hogg, Peter, Constitutional Law of Canada (3rd Ed.), ch. 13.3(b) [para. 63]

Nowak, R. Walker's Mammals of the World (1999), generally [para. 35].

O'Connell, International Law (1970), vol. 1, pp. 488 to 489 [para. 134].

O'Connell, D.P. The International Law of the Sea (1982), vol. I, ch. 9 [para. 68].

Ramsay and Sterling, I., "Reproductive biology and ecology of female polar bears (*Ursus maritimus*) 1988, 214 Journal of Zoology 601, pp. 601 to 634. [para. 35].

Counsel:

Colin McMorrow, for Her Majesty the Queen;

Darrell Kirby Turnbull, on his own behalf.

This matter was heard at Port Hope Simpson, N.L., before Joy, P.C.J., of the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Court, who delivered the following decision on February 20, 2015.