Bill 184 2009

An Act to amend the Floral Emblem Act

Note: This Act amends the Floral Emblem Act, which has not previously been amended.

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

   1.  The Floral Emblem Act is amended by adding the following section:

Prohibition

   2.  (1)  No person shall pick, cut down, dig, pull up, injure or destroy, in whole or in part, whether in blossom or not, the plant that produces the trillium grandiflorum or white trillium.   

Non-application of subs. (1)

   (2)  Subsection (1) does not apply to any person engaged in,

  (a)  the lawful carrying out of any public work or of the person's occupation; or

  (b)  the carrying out of necessary work on property owned or lawfully occupied by the person. 

Offence and penalty

   (3)  Any person who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not less than $500.

Commencement

   2.  This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

   3.  The short title of this Act is the Ontario Trillium Protection Act, 2009.

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EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill amends the Floral Emblem Act to prohibit, with limited exceptions, injuring or destroying in any way the plant that produces the trillium grandiflorum, Ontario's floral emblem, popularly known as the white trillium. It creates an offence for doing so punishable by a fine of not less than $500.