Creating a boat launch along the Ottawa River near Mattawa has resulted in a big fine for a Stittsville man.
He's been fined a total of $10,000 for offences under the Public Lands Act and Aggregate Resources Act.
Michel Tremblay pleaded guilty and was fined $1,500 for filling shore lands, $1,500 for depositing materials into water, $2,000 for operating an aggregate pit without a licence, and $5,000 for failing to comply with an inspector’s order.
Court heard that in the spring of 2013, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s North Bay District office received a complaint of excavation work being done without proper approvals near the Ottawa River in the Mattawa area. An investigation revealed that between March 8 and May 14, 2013, Tremblay removed aggregate from an unlicensed pit and used it to level a landing, upgrade an access road, and create a launch area along the Ottawa River.
He was issued an order from an aggregate inspector requiring him to stop the extraction of aggregate, but he did not.
Justice of the Peace Ruby Beck heard the case in the Ontario Court of Justice, North Bay, on April 5, 2017.
