Contraventions Act Evaluation, Final Report
4. Methodology
The methodology used to conduct this evaluation has two main components: a document and file review, as well as key informant interviews.
4.1. Document review
To get a detailed understanding of the Contraventions Act, a range of documents were reviewed. The list of documents includes, but is not limited to:
- Documents related to the history of the Contraventions Act. Some of these documents are public, such as studies conducted by the Law Reform Commission, whereas others are internal (e.g., briefing notes, memos). They provided critical insights on the rationale of the Act.
- A number of key legislative texts were reviewed. In addition to the Contraventions Act itself, along with its two sets of regulations, a number of federal laws and regulations currently covered by the Act were also reviewed. Provincial legislation on court procedures was also included.
- Current Contravention Act agreements along with financial and statistical reports were also reviewed. In some cases, provincial authorities provided additional statistical data on the number and the type of contraventions tickets issued in their jurisdictions.
4.2. Key informant interviews
Key informant interviews were conducted with a number of stakeholder groups from all regions of Canada where the Act is operational. In total, 67 interviews were conducted, involving 81 individuals. These interviews were conducted during the period between February and April 2010. Table 4 presents the distribution of key informants consulted, based on their positions.
| Key informant group | Number of individuals consulted |
|---|---|
| Enforcement officers (federal, provincial, municipal) | 29 |
| Enforcement managers (federal, provincial, municipal, airports) | 20 |
| Legal counsel and prosecutors | 12 |
| Public servants (federal and provincial) | 17 |
| Court managers | 3 |
| Total | 81 |
Some of these interviews were conducted in person, while others were conducted over the phone. Formal site visits were included as part of the data collection process, and some in-person interviews were conducted in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario. In other provinces, however, the geographical location of stakeholders was so dispersed that phone interviews were used instead of site visits.
4.3. Analysis
The implementation of the Contraventions Act is largely an undocumented story. As a result, the methodology used for the evaluation was structured to allow for a thorough review of documented and undocumented facts about the Act, and for the gathering of opinions and perceptions of a wide range of stakeholders, with a strong emphasis on enforcement officers and managers.
Since the evaluation relied heavily on qualitative data, qualitative data analysis software (NVivo) was used to systematically structure findings along key evaluation issues, questions and indicators, and to allow for a complete integration of all qualitative information. This approach supported an analysis by organizations and positions, which was particularly important considering the nature of statutory offences covered by the Act.
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