Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act (S.C. 2019, c. 1)

Forfeiture, Retention or Disposition

Marginal note:Forfeiture

• 121 (1) If a person is found guilty of an offence, the court may, in addition to any punishment imposed, order that any seized thing under this Act, or any proceeds of its disposition, be forfeited to Her Majesty in right of Canada.

• Marginal note:Return where no forfeiture ordered

  (2) If the court does not order the forfeiture, the seized thing or the proceeds of its disposition must be returned or paid to its owner.

• Marginal note:Protection of persons claiming interest

  (3) The provisions of sections 74 to 76 of the Fisheries Act apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, in respect of any thing forfeited under subsection (1) as though it were a thing forfeited under subsection 72(1) of that Act.

Marginal note:Retention or disposition

122 If a fine is imposed on a person convicted of an offence, any seized thing, or any proceeds of its disposition, may be retained until the fine is paid, or the thing may be disposed of and the proceeds applied, in whole or in part, in payment of the fine.

Jurisdiction

Marginal note:Jurisdiction in relation to offences

123 If a person or a vessel is charged with having committed an offence under this Act, any court in Canada that would have had cognizance of the offence if it had been committed by a person or vessel within the limits of its ordinary jurisdiction has jurisdiction to try the offence as if it had been committed there.

Reporting of Alleged Contraventions

Marginal note:Reasonable grounds

• 124 (1) An individual who has reasonable grounds to believe that a person or vessel has contravened or intends to contravene a provision of this Act or the regulations may notify the minister responsible for administering that provision of the particulars of the matter and may request that their identity be kept confidential with respect to the notification.

• Marginal note:Confidentiality

  (2) The identity of an individual to whom the Minister or the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans has provided an assurance of confidentiality may be disclosed by the Minister or the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans only in accordance with the Privacy Act.

Injunction

Marginal note:Injunction

• 125 (1) If, on the application of the Minister, it appears to a court of competent jurisdiction that a person has committed, is about to commit or is likely to commit an act or omission that constitutes or is directed toward the commission of an offence under this Act, the court may order the person named in the application to

  • (a) refrain from doing an act that it appears to the court may constitute or be directed toward the commission of an offence under this Act; or

  • (b) do an act that it appears to the court may prevent the commission of an offence under this Act.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (2) No order may be made unless 48 hours’ notice is served on the person named in the application or the urgency of the situation is such that service of notice would not be in the public interest.

PART 6General

Marginal note:Statutory Instruments Act

126 A direction or detention order under this Act is not a statutory instrument for the purposes of the Statutory Instruments Act.

Marginal note:Immunity — personal liability

• 127 (1) The following persons are not personally liable for anything they do or omit to do under this Act unless it is established that they acted in bad faith:

  • (a) a servant of the Crown, as those terms are defined in section 2 of the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act;

  • (b) a receiver of wreck and a person authorized or within a class of persons authorized under subsection 57(2); and

  • (c) an enforcement officer.

• Marginal note:Crown not relieved

  (2) Paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) do not, by reason of section 10 of the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act, relieve the Crown of liability for a tort or extracontractual civil liability to which the Crown would otherwise be subject, except if a receiver of wreck, or a person authorized or within a class of persons authorized under subsection 57(2), disposes of or releases a wreck or pays the proceeds of its disposition in accordance with Part 4.

Marginal note:Immunity — civil or criminal liability

• 128 (1) A person, other than an owner that contravened subsection 30(1) and an owner of a vessel that was the subject of measures under section 35 or 36 or subsection 37(3) or (4), that provides assistance or advice to the Minister, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans or an enforcement officer in taking or refraining from taking measures under this Act, or that is directed to take or refrain from taking measures under paragraph 30(3)(c), 36(c) or 37(3)(c) or subsection 37(4), in respect of any act or omission in the course of providing assistance or advice or taking or refraining from taking any measures, does not incur

  • (a) civil liability, unless it is established that the person acted in bad faith; or

  • (b) criminal liability, unless it is shown that the person’s conduct was not reasonable in the circumstances.

• Marginal note:Immunity — accompanying persons

  (2) Any person accompanying the Minister, an enforcement officer or the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans does not incur, in respect of that which is authorized by subsections 86(2) to (4),

  • (a) civil liability, unless it is established that the person acted in bad faith; or

  • (b) criminal liability, unless it is shown that the person’s conduct was not reasonable in the circumstances.

Marginal note:Costs constituting debt

• 129 (1) The amount of the costs and expenses incurred by the Minister or the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, in respect of measures taken under any of subsections 21(2) and (3), section 22, paragraphs 30(3)(a) to (c), section 35, paragraphs 36(a) to (c) and subsection 37(3) and (4) or in relation to the use of property under subsection 86(5), constitutes a debt due to Her Majesty in right of Canada that may be recovered

  • (a) in the case of measures taken under subsection 21(2) or (3) or section 22, from the person that was the owner of the vessel at the time of the maritime casualty that resulted in the wreck;

  • (b) in the case of measures taken under any of paragraphs 30(3)(a) to (c), section 35, paragraphs 36(a) to (c) and subsections 37(3) and (4), from the person that was the owner of the vessel or wreck at the time the costs and expenses were incurred; or

  • (c) in the case of property used under subsection 86(5),

    • (i) if a wreck is subject to Part 1, from the person that was the owner of the vessel at the time of the maritime casualty that resulted in the wreck, or

    • (ii) in all other cases, from the person that was the owner of the vessel or wreck at the time the costs and expenses were incurred.

• Marginal note:Liability

  (2) If more than one person was the owner of the vessel referred to in subsection (1), the owners are jointly and severally, or solidarily, liable for the costs and expenses referred to in that subsection.

• Marginal note:Other remedies available

  (3) Nothing in this Act prevents a debt referred to in subsection (1) from being recovered from the debtor in any court of competent jurisdiction or the exercise against the debtor of any other right or remedy available at law.

PART 7Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations — Minister

• 130 (1) The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, make regulations

  • (a) designating any floating object to be a vessel for the purposes of the definition vessel in section 2;

  • (b) excluding any vessel or wreck from the application of all or part of this Act;

  • (c) extending the application of the Wreck Removal Convention to vessels or classes of vessels excluded from the application of that Convention and specifying the terms and conditions that are applicable to those vessels or classes of vessels under Article 4 of that Convention;

  • (d) imposing a fee for the issuance of a certificate under section 25;

  • (e) respecting the exercise of the powers or the performance of the duties or functions of a person designated under subsection 25(2);

  • (f) respecting conditions under which certificates may be issued, refused or revoked for the purposes of subsections 25(3) to (5);

  • (g) providing, despite subsection 26(3) of the Marine Liability Act, that the limits of liability set out in that Act apply in respect of some or all vessels of less than 300 gross tonnage;

  • (h) respecting insurance or other financial security requirements relating to the locating, marking and removal of wrecks applicable

    • (i) to vessels of less than 300 gross tonnage, and

    • (ii) to towed vessels that are not registered;

  • (i) excluding from the application of some or all of Part 2 any geographic area in which measures may be taken, under an Act of Parliament other than this Act or an Act of the legislature of a province, to prevent, mitigate or eliminate a hazard;

  • (j) specifying harmful consequences, including with respect to a geographic area described in paragraph (i), that are excluded from the definition hazard in section 27;

  • (k) specifying the form and manner of the consent referred to in subsection 30(2);

  • (l) specifying circumstances in which an owner of a vessel is deemed to have abandoned it for the purposes of subsection 32(1);

  • (m) respecting requirements in relation to salvage operations;

  • (n) respecting requirements relating to the towing of vessels that are normally self-propelled and that are without their propelling power;

  • (o) respecting the setting and payment of fees for services provided in the administration of the provisions of this Act, other than section 131, or the regulations;

  • (p) exempting any geographical area from the application of Part 4;

  • (q) respecting the detention of vessels, including the review of detention orders;

  • (r) establishing conditions governing the sale or acquisition of vessels, including measures that must be taken before a vessel is sold or acquired;

  • (s) respecting requirements relating to the dismantlement or destruction of vessels in Canada and of those destined for dismantlement or destruction outside Canada;

  • (t) requiring that notice be given of anything that can or must be done under this Act;

  • (u) respecting directions made and notices given under this Act;

  • (v) respecting the service of documents, including the circumstances under which documents are deemed to be served;

  • (w) respecting record keeping, information management and reporting for the purposes of this Act;

  • (x) removing any reservation from Part 2 of Schedule 2 that Canada withdraws;

  • (y) prescribing anything that is to be prescribed under this Act; and

  • (z) generally for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act.

• Marginal note:Debt due to Her Majesty

  (2) All fees set under paragraph (1)(o) constitute a debt due to Her Majesty in right of Canada and may be recovered in any court of competent jurisdiction.

• Marginal note:Payment of fees

  (3) If a fee is imposed under paragraph (1)(o)

  • (a) in respect of a pleasure craft that is not a Canadian vessel, its owner is liable for payment of the fee;

  • (b) in respect of a Canadian vessel, the authorized representative and the master are jointly and severally, or solidarily, liable for payment of the fee; and

  • (c) in respect of a vessel that is not a Canadian vessel, its owner and the authorized representative are jointly and severally, or solidarily, liable for payment of the fee.

• Marginal note:Seizure and detention for charges

  (4) If the amount of a fee owed by an authorized representative of a Canadian vessel or by the owner of a vessel that is not a Canadian vessel has not been paid, the Minister may, in addition to any other remedy available for the collection of the amount and whether or not a judgment for the collection of the amount has been obtained, apply to the Federal Court for an order authorizing the Minister to seize, detain and sell any vessel belonging to the authorized representative or the owner, as the case may be. The Court may make the order on the terms that the Court considers appropriate.

• Marginal note:Release on security

  (5) The Minister must release a seized vessel if security in a form satisfactory to him or her for the amount in respect of which the vessel was seized is deposited with the Minister.