Aeronautics Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. A-2)

Marginal note:Definitions

• 14 (1) The following definitions apply in this section.

  information

  information includes a record regardless of its form and a copy of a record. (renseignement)

  place

  place includes an aircraft, any premises and any building or other structure erected on those premises. (lieu)

• Marginal note:Powers of investigators

  (2) If an investigator believes on reasonable grounds that there is or might be, at or in any place, any thing relevant to the investigation of a military-civilian occurrence, the investigator may, subject to subsection (3), enter and search that place for such a thing, and seize any such thing that is found in the course of that search, including an aircraft or part of one.

• Marginal note:Conditions for exercise of powers

  (3) An investigator shall not exercise the powers referred to in subsection (2) in relation to a particular place without the consent of the person apparently in charge of that place unless

  • (a) those powers are exercised under the authority of a warrant; or

  • (b) by reason of exigent circumstances, it would not be practical for the investigator to obtain a warrant.

• Marginal note:Warrant

  (4) If a justice of the peace is satisfied by information on oath that an investigator believes on reasonable grounds that there is or might be, at or in any place, any thing relevant to the investigation of a military-civilian occurrence, the justice may, on ex parte application, sign and issue a warrant authorizing the investigator to enter and search that place for such a thing and to seize any such thing that is found in the course of that search.

• Marginal note:Warrants may be obtained by telephone, etc.

  (5) The procedure set out in section 487.1 of the Criminal Code applies in relation to the obtaining of warrants under this section, subject to regulations made under paragraph 24.5(1)(g).

• Marginal note:Power to test things seized, etc.

  (6) If any thing is seized by an investigator under subsection (2), the investigator

  • (a) may, subject to paragraph (b), cause to be conducted on the thing any tests, including tests to destruction, that are necessary for the purposes of the investigation;

  • (b) shall, to the extent that it is practical and safe to do so without unreasonably impeding the progress of the investigation,

    • (i) take all reasonable measures to invite the owner of the thing, and any person who appears on reasonable grounds to be entitled to it, to be present at such tests, and

    • (ii) allow them to be present at those tests; and

  • (c) subject to the need to conduct such tests, shall cause the thing to be preserved pending its return under section 15.

• Marginal note:Power to prohibit or limit access

  (7) An investigator may, in the course of an investigation of a military-civilian occurrence, and for the purposes of preserving and protecting any thing involved or likely to have been involved, whether or not the thing has been seized under this section, prohibit or limit access to the area immediately surrounding the place at which the thing is located for any period that is necessary for the purposes of the investigation.

• Marginal note:Disruption to be minimized

  (8) In exercising the power conferred by subsection (7), an investigator shall have regard to the desirability of minimizing any resulting disruption to transportation services.

• Marginal note:Prohibition

  (9) No person shall knowingly enter an area in contravention of a prohibition or limitation of access under subsection (7).

• Marginal note:Additional powers of investigators

  (10) An investigator may do any of the following, on notice in writing to the person concerned, if their belief is based on reasonable grounds:

  • (a) if the investigator believes that a person has information relevant to an investigation,

    • (i) require the person to produce the information to the investigator or to attend before the investigator and give a statement referred to in section 24.1, under oath or solemn affirmation if required by the investigator, and

    • (ii) make any copies of and take any extracts from the information that the investigator considers necessary for the purposes of the investigation;

  • (b) require a person who is directly or indirectly involved in the operation of an aircraft to submit to a medical examination, if the investigator believes that the examination is or might be relevant to the investigation;

  • (c) require a physician or health practitioner to provide information concerning a patient to the investigator, if the investigator believes that the information is or might be relevant to the investigation; or

  • (d) require the person who has custody of the body of a deceased person or other human remains to permit the performance of an autopsy on the body or other medical examination on the remains, and cause it to be performed, if the investigator believes that the autopsy or other medical examination is or might be relevant to the investigation.

• Marginal note:Offence — paragraph (10)(a), (c) or (d)

  (11) No person shall refuse or fail to produce information to an investigator, or to attend before an investigator and give a statement, in accordance with a requirement imposed under paragraph (10)(a), to provide information in accordance with a requirement imposed under paragraph (10)(c) or to make the body of a deceased person or other human remains available for the performance of an autopsy or other medical examination in accordance with a requirement imposed under paragraph (10)(d).

• Marginal note:Offence — paragraph (10)(b)

  (12) No person shall refuse or fail to submit to a medical examination in accordance with a requirement imposed under paragraph (10)(b), but information obtained as a result of such an examination is privileged and, subject to the Authority’s power to make any use of it that the Authority considers necessary in the interests of aviation safety, no person shall knowingly communicate it or permit it to be communicated to any person.

• Marginal note:Legal proceedings

  (13) No person is to be required to produce information referred to in subsection (12) or to give evidence relating to it in any legal, disciplinary or other proceedings.

• Marginal note:Certificate to be produced

  (14) Before acting under this section, an investigator shall, on request, produce their certificate of designation to any person in relation to whom the investigator acts.

• Marginal note:Meaning of medical examination

  (15) The requirement under paragraph (10)(b) that a person submit to a medical examination does not require the person to submit to any procedure involving surgery, perforation of the skin or any external tissue or the entry into the body of any drug or foreign substance.

• Marginal note:Use of force

  (16) In executing a warrant under this section, an investigator shall not use force unless the investigator is accompanied by a peace officer and the use of force is specifically authorized in the warrant.

• Marginal note:Failure to produce document, etc.

  (17) If an investigator has required a person to do something under subsection (10) and the person has refused or failed to do as required, the investigator may make an application to the Federal Court or a superior court of a province setting out the facts, and the court may inquire into the matter and, after giving the person an opportunity to comply with the requirement, take steps for their punishment as if they had been guilty of contempt of the court, or may make any other order that it considers appropriate.