Carriage by Air Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-26)

1 The liability shall be enforceable for the benefit of such of the members of the passenger’s family as sustained damage by reason of the death of the passenger.

In this paragraph, “member of the passenger’s family” means the passenger’s spouse or a person who was cohabiting with the passenger in a conjugal relationship for a period of at least one year immediately before the death of the passenger, a parent, step-parent, grandparent, brother, sister, child, adopted child, stepchild, grandchild, or any person for whom the passenger stood in the place of a parent.

2 An action to enforce the liability may be brought by

• (a) any person who, under the law in force in the province in which action is brought, is entitled to act or is recognized as the personal representative of the passenger;

• (b) any person for whose benefit the liability is, under paragraph 1, enforceable; or

• (c) any person who, under the law in force in the province in which action is brought, is entitled to act or is recognized as the representative for any one or more of the persons for whose benefit the liability is, under paragraph 1, enforceable.

3 The Court before which any action referred to in paragraph 2 is brought may, at any stage of the proceedings, make any orders that appear to the Court to be just and equitable in view of the provisions of Schedule I limiting the liability of a carrier and in view of any proceedings that may have been or are likely to be commenced in another province or outside Canada in respect of the death of the passenger in question and, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, the Court may

• (a) provide for representation of all interested persons;

• (b) stay proceedings, with a view to avoiding multiplicity of actions, whether within the province or elsewhere, in respect of the death of the passenger in question; and

• (c) divide the amount recovered, after deducting any costs not recovered from the defendant, between the persons entitled, in such proportion as the Court or, where the action is tried by a jury, the jury may direct.