Manitoba's agricultural sector is critical to the province's economic prosperity, contributing roughly seven percent to provincial GDP and generating over 34,000 jobs.
The Noxious Weeds Act (the Act) — one of Manitoba's oldest pieces of legislation, brought into force in 1871 and amended in 2021 — strives to safeguard the sector.
The Act's primary goal is to curtail the negative impacts of noxious weeds found in Manitoba, as well as those potentially invasive species yet to be discovered within the province's boundaries.
Recently, the Act has made headlines when the noxious weed waterhemp (Amaranthus tuberculatus) was downgraded from tier 1 (highest risk) to tier 2.
Although this downgrading may seem like positive news, the rationale reveals a different story. Waterhemp, which can be quite harmful to crops, has become too widespread in certain municipalities to be eradicated.
In municipalities where waterhemp is not yet present, however, it remains a tier 1 weed. It is precisely this trend of invasive species becoming firmly ensconced in Manitoba's environment, to the detriment of farmers, that makes understanding and adhering to the mandates of The Noxious Weeds Act such an important facet of agricultural protection.
The complete listing of noxious weeds is found in The Noxious Weeds Regulation.
What are the Penalties and Consequences of Contravening the Act?
While the spread of noxious weeds is harmful at an environmental and economic level, The Noxious Weeds Act also contains provisions that include financial penalties for individuals who contravene its provisions.
Every person who:
- prevents an inspector from entering land or premises other than a dwelling house, or obstructs their entry or inspection;
- contravenes the Act or its regulations or fails to observe and carry out any of its provisions;
- or fails to perform any duty or take any action as set out in a notice given to them under the Act
is guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine of up to $2,000 and/or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year.
Further, where a corporation is guilty of an offence under the Act, any officer, director, or agent of the corporation will be guilty of the offence and subject to the aforementioned penalties if they directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced, or participated in the commission of the offence.
In addition to these penalties, any landowner, occupant, or agent who has been given a notice under the Act and neglects or refuses to comply with its requirements is guilty of an offence and liable to a further fine of $100 for each day that the neglect or refusal continues.
Aside from penalties for contravening the Act or failing to adhere to the requirements of a notice, the costs associated with the destruction or control of noxious weeds may have repercussions for landowners.
To start with, expenditures by a municipality to destroy or control noxious weeds may be collected from the landowner in the same manner as other taxes, and if money is expended on land outside of a municipality, that money will form a lien in favour of the Crown, which takes precedence over all mortgages or charges against the land.
Further, a municipal council may, on recommendation from an inspector, levy a charge on lands infested with noxious weeds. This is not to exceed $25 per acre, and may either be collected by the municipality or, if the owner or occupant has taken appropriate measures to control or destroy the noxious weeds, cancelled upon the inspector's recommendation.
Who is Responsible for Controlling Noxious Weeds?
Landowners and Occupiers
Who Owns What?
Given the intersection of public and private lands and the duties imposed by the Noxious Weeds Act, it is important that the Act clarifies exactly who is the owner or occupier of the lands at issue.
With privately owned lands, it is the property owner's responsibility to adhere to the mandates of the Act.
Restrictions on Renting
Under the Act, landowners may also be prohibited from renting their land if noxious weeds or weed seeds are found by an inspector or sub-inspector to exist "to a detrimental extent" on that land, provided that notice in writing is given. Change of ownership of the land will have no effect on this prohibition, and any person who rents land contrary to the notice may be open to penalties under the Act as well as liable for any potential loss the tenant suffers because of the contravention.
Liability for Spread of Weeds
Landowners and occupiers are responsible for the control or destruction of noxious weeds on their land, depending on the tier in which the weeds belong. If a landowner or occupier fails to do so in accordance with the Act, they may be liable for damages to owners of adjacent properties who have their lands infested with weeds that have spread.
Municipalities and Their Officials
Duties Imposed by theAct
Beyond responsibility for lands occupied by the municipality, municipalities and their agents have a series of duties outlined in the Act. Many of these duties are financial in nature, requiring municipalities to review expenditures, collect taxes, levy charges on lands, and remunerate their inspectors and sub-inspectors.
However, municipalities and their councillors also have more hands-on duties imposed by the Act. The council of the municipality may, by bylaw, declare land within the municipality to be a weed-infested area if it is infested with noxious weeds. Subsequently, the municipality may enter into an agreement with the land's owner, occupant, or agent to destroy the noxious weeds or, if an agreement is deemed impossible or inexpedient, authorize the steps necessary to destroy the noxious weeds.
One of the more significant obligations of municipalities with respect to the Act is to either appoint municipal weed inspectors or to create a Weed Control Board for the municipality, which in turn is empowered to appoint a weed supervisor and assistant weed supervisors, with all the authority, powers, and duties of an inspector.
It is these inspectors (or supervisors) who examine lands for the presence of noxious weeds and give notice to those responsible for that land to destroy or control the weeds, take steps themselves to destroy or control noxious weeds, and report on their findings.
While performing their duties, inspectors may, without the consent of the owner, enter onto land to look for the presence of noxious weeds, without being subject to any action for trespass or damages. Inspectors are also empowered to cut down growing crops to destroy or control noxious weeds found in a growing crop, without notice for areas of three acres or less or with notice to the owner, occupant, or agent of the owner for areas over three acres.
Potential for Liability
Importantly, liability for inspectors is limited by the Act. Unless the work is done negligently, the inspectors and sub-inspectors, or any person acting under their direction, the municipality, the members of the council of the municipality, and anyone else appointed by the council under the Act are free from liability for any steps taken in good faith to destroy or control noxious weeds.
In an Alberta judgment that relied heavily on a Manitoba decision, the judge found the municipality is generally not vicariously liable for the actions of its weed inspectors. This is because weed inspectors, although appointed by a municipality, are public officers who perform their duties for the benefit of the public, not for that of the municipality in its corporate capacity. This decision, though not binding in Manitoba, is relevant case law.
Provinces and their Officials
As with municipalities, the responsibilities of the province under the Act do not end with its obligation to destroy or control weeds found on lands it owns or occupies. In large part, the duties of the province relate to stepping in to correct potential inaction on the part of municipalities.
For example, if a municipality either neglects or refuses to appoint an inspector or sub-inspector, the minister, appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, may appoint a person to perform those duties, the remuneration of whom would remain the responsibility of the municipality.
The minister may also intercede if the municipality neglects or refuses to terminate a negligent inspector, if there are too few appointed inspectors, or if the municipality fails to ensure that noxious weeds on lands that they own or occupy are destroyed or controlled in accordance with the Act.
Machinery
The Act stipulates that if a motorized machine, any of its parts, or anything that may be towed by that machine has been operated in an area in which a noxious weed is present, it must not be moved from that area to or through an area in which the weed is not present, without first removing any portion of the noxious weed that may result in its spread. While this would likely most often pertain to agricultural machinery, it would also apply to prevent the removal of potentially contaminated construction equipment from job sites on which noxious weeds are found.
Final Takeaways
The Noxious Weeds Act provides mandates for individuals, corporations, and governments to work to ensure that Manitoba continues to have a thriving agricultural sector and a healthy environment, free from invasive or otherwise harmful species of weeds.
By adhering to the Act's requirements, those to whom the Act applies can avert the negative effects associated with these noxious weeds and avoid liability or penalties under the Act.
With reports from summer student Brannen McKenzie-Lefurgey
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
