Vol. 133, No. 51 — December 18, 1999

Regulations Amending the Regulations Prescribing Exclusions from Certain Definitions of the Criminal Code (International Sporting Competition Handguns)

Statutory Authority

Criminal Code

Sponsoring Department

Department of Justice

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

Description

The Regulations being amended form part of a comprehensive regulatory package that supports the implementation of the new statutory scheme for the control of firearms and other weapons provided for in the Firearms Act and a completely amended Part III of the Criminal Code. They complete one of the definitions set out in subsection 84(1) of the new Part III of the Code.

The Regulations being amended exclude from the prohibited handgun part of the definition of "prohibited firearm" certain handguns that are used in international sporting competitions governed by the rules of the International Shooting Union. They also exclude from the definition of "prohibited device" barrels that are components or parts of those handguns.

The definition of "prohibited firearm" in subsection 84(1) of the Criminal Code includes handguns that are designed or adapted to discharge a 25 or 32 calibre cartridge or that have a barrel equal to or less than 105 mm in length. The definition of "prohibited device" includes handgun barrels with a length of 105 mm or less. Both definitions, however, exclude handguns and barrels that are prescribed by regulation, where the handgun or barrel is for use in international shooting competitions governed by the rules of the International Shooting Union. The exclusion of the handguns used in these competitions, and their barrels, ensures that the inclusion of certain types of handguns in the prohibited class does not affect the participation of Canadian athletes in these competitions in Canada or abroad. It also means that there is no impediment to the hosting by Canada of sanctioned shooting competitions at events such as the Olympics or the Commonwealth Games.

The Regulations being amended thus set out a specific list, by make, model and calibre, of handguns excluded from the prohibited firearms class, and exclude from the class of prohibited devices barrels which are components or parts of such handguns.

These amending Regulations update that list, adding some additional competition handgun models and correcting some of the references on the list. The list is also reorganized alphabetically by the make of the firearm in order to make reference to it easier.

Benefits and Costs

The Regulations being amended ensure that participation in sanctioned shooting competitions is not adversely impacted by this prohibited class. These amending Regulations further that objective by updating and expanding the list. Amendments of this nature will occur from time to time as new models of competition handguns appear.

Consultation

Extensive consultations on the development of the Regulations being amended were undertaken with: provincial authorities, in particular the chief provincial and territorial firearms officers; federal departments involved in the implementation of the new law, in particular the Department of the Solicitor General, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, as well as other interested federal departments; representatives of police agencies and police associations; shooting organizations; and firearms user and industry groups, including the User Group on Firearms established by the Minister of Justice as an advisory body. These amending Regulations were developed in consultation with provincial authorities, federal departments, representatives of shooting organizations, and the User Group on Firearms.

Compliance and Enforcement

These Regulations result in exemptions from provisions of the Firearms Act or the Criminal Code, and no compliance mechanisms are therefore required.

Contact

Legal Counsel, Canadian Firearms Centre, Department of Justice, East Memorial Building, 284 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8, 1-800-731-4000 (Telephone), (613) 941-1991 (Facsimile).

PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT

Notice is hereby given that the Governor in Council, pursuant to subsections 84(1) and 117.15(1)(see footnote a) of the Criminal Code, propose to make the annexed Regulations Amending the Regulations Prescribing Exclusions from Certain Definitions of the Criminal Code (International Sporting Competition Handguns).

Interested persons may make representations with respect to the proposed Regulations within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be addressed to Legal Counsel, Canadian Firearms Centre, Department of Justice, East Memorial Building, 284 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8, 1-800-731-4000, (Telephone), (613) 941-1991 (Facsimile).

Ottawa, December 16, 1999

MARC O'SULLIVAN
Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE REGULATIONS PRESCRIBING EXCLUSIONS FROM CERTAIN DEFINITIONS OF THE CRIMINAL CODE (INTERNATIONAL SPORTING COMPETITION HANDGUNS)

AMENDMENT

1. The schedule to the Regulations Prescribing Exclusions from Certain Definitions of the Criminal Code (International Sporting Competition Handguns)(see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:

SCHEDULE
(Section 1)

LIST OF PRESCRIBED EXCLUDED HANDGUNS

Item	Column 1 Make	Column 2 Model	Column 3 Calibre
1.	Benelli	MP 90 S	32 S&W Long
2.	Domino	OP 601	22 Short
3.	Erma	ESP 85A	32 S&W Long
4.	FAS	CF 603	32 S&W Long
5.	FAS	601	22 Short
6.	Hammerli-Walther	201	22 Short
7.	Hammerli-Walther	202	22 Short
8.	Hammerli	230	22 Short
9.	Hammerli	230-1	22 Short
10.	Hammerli	230-2	22 Short
11.	Hammerli	232	22 Short
12.	Hammerli	280	32 S&W Long
13.	Hammerli	P240	32 S&W Long
14.	Hammerli	SP-20	22 LR
15.	Hammerli	SP-20	32 S&W Long
16.	High Standard	Olympic	22 Short
17.	Manurhin	MR 32 Match	32 S&W Long
18.	Pardini	GP	22 Short
19.	Pardini	GP Schumann	22 Short
20.	Pardini	HP	32 S&W Long
21.	Pardini	MP	32 S&W Long
22.	Sako	22-32	22 Short
23.	Sako	22-32	22 LR
24.	Sako	22-32	32 S&W Long
25.	Sako	Tri-Ace	22 Short
26.	Sako	Tri-Ace	22 LR
27.	Sako	Tri-Ace	32 S&W Long
28.	Unique	DES 69	22 LR
29.	Unique	VO 79	22 Short
30.	Unique	DES 32 U	32 S&W Long
31.	Vostok	TOZ 96	32 S&W Long
32.	Walther	GSP	22 LR
33.	Walther	GSP	22 Short
34.	Walther	GSP	32 S&W Long
35.	Walther	OSP	22 LR
36.	Walther	OSP	22 Short
37.	Walther	OSP	32 S&W Long

COMING INTO FORCE

2. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

[51-1-o]

Order Amending Part 2 of the Schedule to the Royal Canadian Mint Act

Statutory Authority

Royal Canadian Mint Act

Sponsoring Agency

Royal Canadian Mint

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

Description

This Order amends Part 2 of the Schedule to the Royal Canadian Mint Act by adding characteristics for the fifty, twenty-five, ten and five cent coins which differ from the characteristics authorized under the said Part 2.

The use of nickel, copper and nickel-plated steel as a metal composition for the fifty, twenty-five, ten and five cent coins will reduce the cost of manufacturing circulation coinage and save the Government an estimated $9.5 million annually (using 1997 costs and an annual volume of approximately 310 million coins).

Alternatives

The status quo was considered and rejected because it did not generate savings.

Alternative metal compositions such as stainless steel and cupronickel-clad copper were considered for each denomination but the estimated savings were lower than the estimated savings for nickel, copper and nickel-plated steel or were more susceptible to price variations than nickel, copper and nickel-plated steel.

Benefits and Costs

The coins with different characteristics will not be noticeable to the general public and their durability will not be affected.

The use of different characteristics for circulation coins will ensure a secure cost-effective supply of coinage for Canada, which will meet the expectation of the vending industry for high integrity characteristics and will generate $9.5 million of savings annually to the Government. Changing the characteristics of the fifty, twenty-five, ten and five cent coins will require the vending industry to program existing mechanisms in vending equipment to recognize the new plated coins and, in some cases, to invest in new recognition devices.

Consultation

Early notice was not given in the Federal Regulatory Plan. However, the Government announced its intention to change the characteristics in April 1995 as one of several initiatives to reduce the cost of coinage. Subsequently, in October 1997 the Government announced the building of a plating facility at the Mint in Winnipeg that would allow the Royal Canadian Mint (the Mint) to produce fifty, twenty-five, ten and five cent plated circulation coins in the year 2000.

The vending industry has been testing coin samples with the new characteristics since early 1998 to ensure that their coin-accepting equipment can accommodate and discriminate the plated coins against current coins, slugs and foreign coins.

In January 1999, a group of selected companies making vending machine coin acceptors representing 85 percent of coin mechanisms manufactured for Canada participated in the evaluation of the final product with the actual coin design. A series of tests were performed on the plated coins and the results confirm that the coins with the new characteristics are predictable, stable and can be reliably used in automatic payment systems. The mechanisms used by these vending companies are either currently capable of being programmed to recognize the new plated coins, or are capable of being programmed with some modifications to the existing mechanisms.

Later, in the spring of 1999, new plated coin samples of the final product were made available to the rest of the vending industry for testing and calibration. The Mint offered technical assistance to vending companies required to modify their existing mechanisms.

The Mint will continue to conduct the necessary consultations and follow-up with the vending industry and other affected businesses to ensure a smooth transition and a successful integration of the new plated circulation coins.

Contact

Mr. Jean Pierre Tremblay, Vice-President, Manufacturing, Royal Canadian Mint, 320 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0G8, (613) 993-1975 (Telephone), (613) 952-8342 (Facsimile).

PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT

Notice is hereby given that the Governor in Council, pursuant to section 6.6(see footnote b) of the Royal Canadian Mint Act, proposes to make the annexed Order Amending Part 2 of the Schedule to the Royal Canadian Mint Act.

Interested persons may make representations with respect to the proposed Order within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be addressed to Jean-Pierre Tremblay, Vice-President, Royal Canadian Mint, 320 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0G8.

Ottawa, December 16, 1999

MARC O'SULLIVAN
Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council

ORDER AMENDING PART 2 OF THE SCHEDULE TO THE ROYAL CANADIAN MINT ACT

AMENDMENTS

1. Part 2 of the schedule to the Royal Canadian Mint Act(see footnote 2) is amended by adding the following after item 3:

3.1 A fifty cent coin of which

(a) the composition is nickel, copper and nickel-plated steel;

(b) the standard weight is 6.9 grams; and

(c) the margin of tolerance with respect to the weight is ±30.39 grams per kilogram of 144 pieces.

2. Part 2 of the schedule to the Act is amended by adding the following after item 4:

4.1 A twenty-five cent coin of which

(a) the composition is nickel, copper and nickel-plated steel;

(b) the standard weight is 4.4 grams; and

(c) the margin of tolerance with respect to the weight is ±29.66 grams per kilogram of 227 pieces.

3. Part 2 of the schedule to the Act is amended by adding the following after item 5:

5.1 A ten cent coin of which

(a) the composition is nickel, copper and nickel-plated steel;

(b) the standard weight is 1.75 grams; and

(c) the margin of tolerance with respect to the weight is ±34.43 grams per kilogram of 571 pieces.

4. Part 2 of the schedule to the Act is amended by adding the following after item 6:

6.1 A five cent coin of which

(a) the composition is nickel, copper and nickel-plated steel;

(b) the standard weight is 3.95 grams; and

(c) the margin of tolerance with respect to the weight is ±30.51 grams per kilogram of 253 pieces.

COMING INTO FORCE

5. This Order comes into force on the day on which it is registered.

[51-1-o]

Order Authorizing the Issue of Circulation Coins of Fifty Cents, Twenty-Five Cents, Ten Cents and Five Cents and Specifying their Characteristics

Statutory Authority

Royal Canadian Mint Act

Sponsoring Agency

Royal Canadian Mint

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

Description

This Order authorizes the issue of circulation coins of the denominations of fifty, twenty-five, ten and five cents and specifies the characteristics for those coins.

Currently, coins of the denominations of fifty, twenty-five, and ten cents are composed of pure nickel and the five cent denomination coins of cupro-nickel. The use of nickel, copper, nickel plated steel as metal compositions for the fifty, twenty-five, ten and five cent coins reduces the cost of manufacturing circulation coinage and saves the Government an estimated $9.5 million annually (calculated using 1997 costs and an annual volume of approximately 310 million coins).

Alternatives

The alternative metal compositions of pure nickel for the fifty, twenty-five and ten cent coins and cupro-nickel for the five cent coin will be used during the transition period until the Royal Canadian Mint's plating facility in Winnipeg is fully operational in the year 2000.

Benefits and Costs

The different characteristics of the coins will not be noticeable to the general public and the coins' durability will not be affected.

The use of different characteristics for circulation coins will ensure a secure cost-effective supply of coinage for Canada, which will meet the expectation of the vending industry for high integrity characteristics and will generate $9.5 million of savings annually to the Government. The change in the characteristics of the fifty, twenty-five, ten and five cent coins will require the vending industry to program existing mechanisms in vending equipment to recognize the new plated coins and, in some cases, to invest in new recognition devices.

Consultation

Early notice was not given in the Federal Regulatory Plan. However, the Government announced its intention to change the characteristics in April 1995 as one of several initiatives to reduce the cost of coinage. Subsequently, in October 1997 the Government announced the building of a plating facility at the Royal Canadian Mint in Winnipeg that would allow the Mint to produce fifty, twenty-five, ten and five cent plated circulation coins in the year 2000.

The vending industry has been testing coin samples with the new characteristics since early 1998 to ensure that their coin-accepting equipment can accommodate the plated coins and discriminate them from current coins, slugs and foreign coins.

In January 1999, a group of selected companies making vending machine coin acceptors representing 85 percent of coin mechanisms manufactured for Canada participated in the evaluation of the final product with the actual coin design. A series of tests were performed on the plated coins and the results confirm that the new plated coins are predictable and stable and can be reliably used in automatic payment systems. The mechanisms used by these vending companies can either be programmed to recognize the new plated coins, or be programmed with some modifications to the existing mechanisms.

In the spring of 1999 new plated coin samples of the final product were made available to the rest of the vending industry for testing and calibration. The Royal Canadian Mint offered technical assistance to vending companies required to modify their existing mechanisms.

The Royal Canadian Mint will continue to conduct the necessary consultations and follow-up with the vending industry and other affected businesses to ensure a smooth transition and a successful integration of the new plated circulation coins.

The plating facility of the Royal Canadian Mint is expected to be fully operational by mid-year of 2000.

Contact

Mr. Jean-Pierre Tremblay, Vice-President, Manufacturing, Royal Canadian Mint, 320 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0G8, (613) 993-1975 (Telephone), (613) 952-8342 (Facsimile).

PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT

Notice is hereby given that the Governor in Council, pursuant to section 6.4(see footnote c) of the Royal Canadian Mint Act, proposes to make the annexed Order Authorizing the Issue of Circulation Coins of Fifty Cents, Twenty-Five Cents, Ten Cents and Five Cents and Specifying their Characteristics.

Interested persons may make representations with respect to the proposed Order within 30 days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be addressed to Jean-Pierre Tremblay, Vice-President, Royal Canadian Mint, 320 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0G8.

Ottawa, December 16, 1999

MARC O'SULLIVAN
Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council

ORDER AUTHORIZING THE ISSUE OF CIRCULATION COINS OF FIFTY CENTS, TWENTY-FIVE CENTS, TEN CENTS AND FIVE CENTS AND SPECIFYING THEIR CHARACTERISTICS

INTERPRETATION

1. In this Order, "Act" means the Royal Canadian Mint Act.

AUTHORIZATION AND CHARACTERISTICS

2. The issue of circulation coins of fifty cents listed in item 3.1 of Part 2 of the schedule to the Act is hereby authorized and the characteristics of the coins shall be those specified in that item and their diameter shall be 27.13 mm.

3. The issue of circulation coins of twenty-five cents listed in item 4.1 of Part 2 of the schedule to the Act is hereby authorized and the characteristics of the coins shall be those specified in that item and their diameter shall be 23.88 mm.

4. The issue of circulation coins of ten cents listed in item 5.1 of Part 2 of the schedule to the Act is hereby authorized and the characteristics of the coins shall be those specified in that item and their diameter shall be 18.03 mm.

5. The issue of circulation coins of five cents listed in item 6.1 of Part 2 of the schedule to the Act is hereby authorized and the characteristics of the coins shall be those specified in that item and their diameter shall be 21.20 mm.

COMING INTO FORCE

6. This Order comes into force on the day on which it is registered.

[51-1-o]

Footnote a

S.C. 1995, c. 39, s. 139

Footnote 1

SOR/98-465

Footnote b

S.C. 1999, c. 4, s. 3

Footnote 2

R.S., c. R-9

Footnote c

S.C. 1999, c. 4, s. 3

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