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Canada Transportation Act (S.C. 1996, c. 10)

Act current to 2024-02-20 and last amended on 2023-09-30. Previous Versions

PART IAdministration (continued)

Canadian Transportation Agency (continued)

Continuation and Organization (continued)

Marginal note:Term of members

  •  (1) Each member appointed under subsection 7(2) shall hold office during good behaviour for a term of not more than five years and may be removed for cause by the Governor in Council.

  • Marginal note:Reappointment

    (2) A member appointed under subsection 7(2) is eligible to be reappointed on the expiration of a first or subsequent term of office.

  • Marginal note:Continuation in office

    (3) If a member appointed under subsection 7(2) ceases to hold office, the Chairperson may authorize the member to continue to hear any matter that was before the member on the expiry of the member’s term of office and that member is deemed to be a member of the Agency, but that person’s status as a member does not preclude the appointment of up to five members under subsection 7(2) or up to three temporary members under subsection 9(1).

  • 1996, c. 10, s. 8
  • 2007, c. 19, s. 4
  • 2015, c. 3, s. 31(E)

Marginal note:Temporary members

  •  (1) The Minister may appoint temporary members of the Agency from the roster of individuals established by the Governor in Council under subsection (2).

  • Marginal note:Roster

    (2) The Governor in Council may appoint any individual to a roster of candidates for the purpose of subsection (1).

  • Marginal note:Maximum number

    (3) Not more than three temporary members shall hold office at any one time.

  • Marginal note:Term of temporary members

    (4) A temporary member shall hold office during good behaviour for a term of not more than one year and may be removed for cause by the Governor in Council.

  • Marginal note:No reappointment

    (5) A person who has served two consecutive terms as a temporary member is not, during the twelve months following the completion of the person’s second term, eligible to be reappointed to the Agency as a temporary member.

Marginal note:Members — conflicts of interest

  •  (1) A member appointed under subsection 7(2) shall not, directly or indirectly, as owner, shareholder, director, officer, partner or otherwise,

    • (a) be engaged in a transportation undertaking or business; or

    • (b) have an interest in a transportation undertaking or business or an interest in the manufacture or distribution of transportation plant or equipment, unless the distribution is merely incidental to the general merchandising of goods.

  • Marginal note:Temporary members may not hold other office

    (2) During the term of office of a temporary member, the member shall not accept or hold any office or employment that is inconsistent with the member’s duties under this Act.

  • Marginal note:Disposal of conflict of interest

    (3) If an interest referred to in subsection (1) vests in a member appointed under subsection 7(2) for the benefit of the member by will or succession, the member shall, within three months after the vesting, absolutely dispose of the interest.

  • 1996, c. 10, s. 10
  • 2015, c. 3, s. 32(E)

Remuneration

Marginal note:Remuneration

  •  (1) A member shall be paid such remuneration and allowances as may be fixed by the Governor in Council.

  • Marginal note:Expenses

    (2) Each member is entitled to be paid reasonable travel and living expenses incurred by the member in carrying out duties under this Act or any other Act of Parliament while absent from the member’s ordinary place of work.

Marginal note:Members — retirement pensions

  •  (1) A member appointed under subsection 7(2) is deemed to be employed in the public service for the purposes of the Public Service Superannuation Act.

  • Marginal note:Temporary members not included

    (2) A temporary member is deemed not to be employed in the public service for the purposes of the Public Service Superannuation Act unless the Governor in Council, by order, deems the member to be so employed for those purposes.

  • Marginal note:Accident compensation

    (3) For the purposes of the Government Employees Compensation Act and any regulation made pursuant to section 9 of the Aeronautics Act, a member is deemed to be an employee in the federal public administration.

  • 1996, c. 10, s. 12
  • 2003, c. 22, ss. 224(E), 225(E)
  • 2015, c. 3, s. 33(E)

Chairperson

Marginal note:Duties of Chairperson

 The Chairperson is the chief executive officer of the Agency and has the supervision over and direction of the work of the members and its staff, including the apportionment of work among the members and the assignment of members to deal with any matter before the Agency.

Marginal note:Absence of Chairperson

 In the event of the absence or incapacity of the Chairperson or if the office of Chairperson is vacant, the Vice-Chairperson has all the powers and shall perform all the duties and functions of the Chairperson.

Marginal note:Absence of both Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson

 The Chairperson may authorize one or more of the members to act as Chairperson for the time being if both the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson are absent or unable to act.

Quorum

Marginal note:Quorum

  •  (1) Subject to the Agency’s rules, two members constitute a quorum.

  • Marginal note:Quorum lost because of incapacity of member

    (2) Where a member who is conducting a hearing in respect of a matter becomes incapacitated or dies during the hearing or after the conclusion of the hearing but before rendering a decision and quorum is lost as a result, the Chairperson may, with the consent of all the parties to the hearing,

    • (a) if the incapacity or death occurs during the hearing, authorize another member to continue the hearing and render a decision, or

    • (b) if the incapacity or death occurs after the conclusion of the hearing, authorize another member to examine the evidence presented at the hearing and render a decision,

    and in either case, the quorum in respect of the matter is deemed never to have been lost.

  • Marginal note:Quorum not lost because of incapacity of member

    (3) Where a member who is conducting a hearing in respect of a matter becomes incapacitated or dies during the hearing and quorum is not lost as a result, another member may be assigned by the Chairperson to participate in the hearing and in the rendering of a decision.

Rules

Marginal note:Rules

 The Agency may make rules respecting

  • (a) the sittings of the Agency and the carrying on of its work;

  • (b) the manner of and procedures for dealing with matters and business before the Agency, including the circumstances in which hearings may be held in private; and

  • (c) the number of members that are required to hear any matter or perform any of the functions of the Agency under this Act or any other Act of Parliament.

Head Office

Marginal note:Head office

  •  (1) The head office of the Agency shall be in the National Capital Region described in the schedule to the National Capital Act.

  • Marginal note:Residence of members

    (2) The members appointed under subsection 7(2) shall reside in the National Capital Region described in the schedule to the National Capital Act or within any distance of it that the Governor in Council determines.

  • 1996, c. 10, s. 18
  • 2007, c. 19, s. 5
  • 2008, c. 21, s. 61

Staff

Marginal note:Secretary, officers and employees

 The Secretary of the Agency and the other officers and employees that are necessary for the proper conduct of the business of the Agency shall be appointed in accordance with the Public Service Employment Act.

Marginal note:Technical experts

 The Agency may appoint and, subject to any applicable Treasury Board directive, fix the remuneration of experts or persons who have technical or special knowledge to assist the Agency in an advisory capacity in respect of any matter before the Agency.

Records

Marginal note:Duties of Secretary

  •  (1) The Secretary of the Agency shall

    • (a) maintain a record in which shall be entered a true copy of every rule, order, decision and regulation of the Agency and any other documents that the Agency requires to be entered in it; and

    • (b) keep at the Agency’s office a copy of all rules, orders, decisions and regulations of the Agency and the records of proceedings of the Agency.

  • Marginal note:Entries in record

    (2) The entry of a document in the record referred to in paragraph (1)(a) shall constitute the original record of the document.

Marginal note:Copies of documents obtainable

 On the application of any person, and on payment of a fee fixed by the Agency, the Secretary of the Agency or, in the absence of the Secretary, the person assigned by the Chairperson to act in the absence shall issue under the seal of the Agency to the applicant a certified copy of any rule, order, regulation or any other document that has been issued by the Agency.

Marginal note:Judicial notice of documents

  •  (1) Judicial notice shall be taken of a document issued by the Agency under its seal without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed it.

  • Marginal note:Evidence of deposited documents

    (2) A document purporting to be certified by the Secretary of the Agency as being a true copy of a document deposited or filed with or approved by the Agency, or any portion of such a document, is evidence that the document is so deposited, filed or approved and, if stated in the certificate, of the time when the document was deposited, filed or approved.

Powers of Agency

Marginal note:Policy governs Agency

 The powers, duties and functions of the Agency respecting any matter that comes within its jurisdiction under an Act of Parliament shall be exercised and performed in conformity with any policy direction issued to the Agency under section 43.

Marginal note:Agency powers in general

 The Agency has, with respect to all matters necessary or proper for the exercise of its jurisdiction, the attendance and examination of witnesses, the production and inspection of documents, the enforcement of its orders or regulations and the entry on and inspection of property, all the powers, rights and privileges that are vested in a superior court.

Marginal note:Power to award costs

  •  (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (4), the Agency has all the powers that the Federal Court has to award costs in any proceeding before it.

  • Marginal note:Costs may be fixed or taxed

    (2) Costs may be fixed in any case at a sum certain or may be taxed.

  • Marginal note:Payment

    (3) The Agency may direct by whom and to whom costs are to be paid and by whom they are to be taxed and allowed.

  • Marginal note:Scale

    (4) The Agency may make rules specifying a scale under which costs are to be taxed.

Marginal note:Compelling observance of obligations

 The Agency may require a person to do or refrain from doing any thing that the person is or may be required to do or is prohibited from doing under any Act of Parliament that is administered in whole or in part by the Agency.

Marginal note:Relief

  •  (1) The Agency may grant the whole or part of an application, or may make any order or grant any further or other relief that the Agency considers appropriate.

  • (2) and (3) [Repealed, 2008, c. 5, s. 1]

  • Marginal note:Amendments

    (4) The Agency may, on terms or otherwise, make or allow any amendments in any proceedings before it.

  • (5) [Repealed, 2008, c. 5, s. 1]

  • 1996, c. 10, s. 27
  • 2008, c. 5, s. 1
  • 2018, c. 10, s. 4(E)

Marginal note:Orders

  •  (1) The Agency may in any order direct that the order or a portion or provision of it shall come into force

    • (a) at a future time,

    • (b) on the happening of any contingency, event or condition specified in the order, or

    • (c) on the performance, to the satisfaction of the Agency or a person named by it, of any terms that the Agency may impose on an interested party,

    and the Agency may direct that the whole or any portion of the order shall have force for a limited time or until the happening of a specified event.

  • Marginal note:Interim orders

    (2) The Agency may, instead of making an order final in the first instance, make an interim order and reserve further directions either for an adjourned hearing of the matter or for further application.

Marginal note:Time for making decisions

  •  (1) The Agency shall make its decision in any proceedings before it as expeditiously as possible, but no later than one hundred and twenty days after the originating documents are received, unless the parties agree to an extension or this Act or a regulation made under subsection (2) provides otherwise.

  • Marginal note:Period for specified classes

    (2) The Governor in Council may, by regulation, prescribe periods of less than one hundred and twenty days within which the Agency shall make its decision in respect of such classes of proceedings as are specified in the regulation.

Marginal note:Pending proceedings

 The fact that a suit, prosecution or proceeding involving a question of fact is pending in any court does not deprive the Agency of jurisdiction to hear and determine the same question of fact.

Marginal note:Fact finding is conclusive

 The finding or determination of the Agency on a question of fact within its jurisdiction is binding and conclusive.

Marginal note:Review of decisions and orders

 The Agency may review, rescind or vary any decision or order made by it or may re-hear any application before deciding it if, in the opinion of the Agency, since the decision or order or the hearing of the application, there has been a change in the facts or circumstances pertaining to the decision, order or hearing.

Marginal note:Enforcement of decision or order

  •  (1) A decision or order of the Agency may be made an order of the Federal Court or of any superior court and is enforceable in the same manner as such an order.

  • Marginal note:Procedure

    (2) To make a decision or order an order of a court, either the usual practice and procedure of the court in such matters may be followed or the Secretary of the Agency may file with the registrar of the court a certified copy of the decision or order, signed by the Chairperson and sealed with the Agency’s seal, at which time the decision or order becomes an order of the court.

  • Marginal note:Effect of variation or rescission

    (3) Where a decision or order that has been made an order of a court is rescinded or varied by a subsequent decision or order of the Agency, the order of the court is deemed to have been cancelled and the subsequent decision or order may be made an order of the court.

  • Marginal note:Option to enforce

    (4) The Agency may, before or after one of its decisions or orders is made an order of a court, enforce the decision or order by its own action.

  • 1996, c. 10, s. 33
  • 2002, c. 8, s. 122
  • 2006, c. 11, s. 17
  • 2007, c. 19, s. 6
 

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