R. v. Mossman: British Columbia Court of Appeal holds that knowledge or intent is not required to impose secondary liability for environmental offences

As regulatory statutes, the purpose of environmental protection legislation is to protect the welfare of the public and to protect the environment. Individuals may be held directly liable for the commission of environmental offences, but they may also be held liable for a corporation’s offences through the application of secondary liability provisions. In the context of environmental offences, there has been some confusion as to whether secondary liability provisions include a mens rea element. That is, whether the individual must be shown to have had knowledge or intent with respect to the corporation’s offence or the circumstances of the corporation’s offence.

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