Northern Ont. man fined $25K for illegally building road on Crown land
A Sturgeon Falls man has been fined a total of $25,000 for trying to build a road across Crown land to access a piece of private property.
Jason Cyr pled guilty to unlawfully constructing a road without a work permit and was fined $20,000 and was issued a court order for remediation.
Cyr was also fined $2,000 for unlawfully depositing things on public lands, and $3,000 for operating a pit or quarry without a licence.
The case began May 17, 2022, when Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry conservation officers were conducting a patrol in Janes Township, North of River Valley.
“After observing what appeared to be heavy traffic on a dead-end road, officers investigated and uncovered a new road being built on Crown land,” the ministry said in a news release Friday.
“Further investigation determined there were two sites where aggregate material was being removed for the illegal road. There were also several personal items, vehicles and pieces of construction equipment left on nearby public lands.”
The officers learned that a road was being built without permits, as required by the Public Lands Act.
“Conservation officers returned to the site on May 31, 2022, and located Cyr actively working on the construction of the road using a backhoe,” the release said.
“It was determined that Cyr was building the road to access a parcel of private land.”
Justice of the Peace Ruby Beck heard the case in the Ontario Court of Justice in North Bay on Jan. 25.
To report a natural resource problem or provide information about an unsolved case, members of the public can call the ministry TIPS line toll-free at 1-877-847-7667.
You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS. For more information about unsolved cases, please click here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Galen Weston pushes back on 'misguided criticism' of Loblaw as boycott begins
Loblaw chairman Galen Weston, as well as the company's new chief executive, pushed back on what they called 'misguided criticism' of the grocer as a boycott against the company gains steam online.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Quebec premier asks police to dismantle camp at McGill University
Quebec Premier Francois Legault has called on the police to dismantle the pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the lower field of McGill University's downtown campus in Montreal.
Orangutan observed treating wound using medicinal plant in world first
Scientists working in Indonesia have observed an orangutan intentionally treating a wound on their face with a medicinal plant, the first time this behavior has been documented.
TD Bank hit with $9.2M penalty after failing to report suspicious transactions
Canada's financial intelligence agency says it has levied a $9.2-million penalty against The Toronto-Dominion Bank for non-compliance with money laundering and terrorist financing measures as the bank also faces compliance investigations in the U.S.
Doctors concerned about potential spread of bird flu in Canada
H5N1 or avian flu has been detected at dozens of U.S. dairy farms and Canadian experts are urging surveillance on our side of the border too.
This Canadian restaurant just lowered its prices. Here's how it did it
A Canadian restaurant lowered its prices this week, and though news of price tags dropping rather than climbing sounds unusual, the business strategy in this case is not, according to experts in the field.