Canada Marine Act (S.C. 1998, c. 10)

Marginal note:Offences and punishment

• 59 (1) Subject to subsection (2), a person or ship is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of not more than $5,000 where the offence is committed in respect of a ship of twenty metres in length or less, or to a fine of not more than $50,000 where the offence is committed in respect of a ship exceeding twenty metres in length, if the person or ship

  • (a) does not follow the practices and procedures established by a port authority under paragraph 56(1)(b) or have the capacity to use the radio frequencies specified by the port authority under that paragraph;

  • (b) does not do what a person designated under subsection 58(1) requires the person or the ship to do under that subsection;

  • (c) fails to comply with subsection 58(3); or

  • (d) knowingly makes a false or misleading statement, either orally or in writing, to a person designated under subsection 58(1).

• Marginal note:Defence available in certain cases

  (2) It is a defence to a charge under subsection (1) that the master, the person in charge of the deck watch or other person in charge of the ship or the pilot

  • (a) had reasonable grounds to believe that compliance would have imperilled life, the ship or any other ship or any property; and

  • (b) in the case of a charge under paragraph (1)(b), had notified the person designated under subsection 58(1) of the non-compliance and of the reasons for it as soon as possible after it took place.

• Marginal note:Proof of offence by ship

  (3) Where a ship is prosecuted for an offence under this section, it is sufficient proof that the ship has committed the offence to establish that the act or omission that constitutes the offence was committed by the master of the ship or any person on board the ship, whether or not the person on board has been identified.

Marginal note:Application to military and police ships

60 For greater certainty, Canadian warships, naval auxiliary ships and other ships under the command of the Canadian Forces, ships of a visiting force within the meaning of the Visiting Forces Act and any other ships while they are under the command of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have access to Canadian ports.

Order and Safety

Marginal note:Order and safety

• 61 (1) Subject to any regulations made under section 62 or subsection 64.1(1), a port authority shall take appropriate measures for the maintenance of order and the safety of persons and property in the port.

• Marginal note:Marine transportation security

  (2) Subject to any regulations made under the Marine Transportation Security Act, a port authority shall take appropriate measures for the maintenance of marine transportation security.

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

• 62 (1) For the purposes of this Part, the Governor in Council may make regulations respecting

  • (a) the navigation and use by ships of the navigable waters in a port, including the mooring, berthing and loading and unloading of ships and equipment for the loading and unloading of ships;

  • (b) the use and environmental protection of a port, including the regulation or prohibition of equipment, structures, works and operations;

  • (c) the removal, destruction or disposal of any ship, part of a ship, structure, work or other thing that interferes with navigation in a port and provision for the recovery of the costs incurred;

  • (d) the maintenance of order and the safety of persons and property in a port;

  • (d.1) the information or documents that must be provided by the owner or the person in charge of a ship to the port authority;

  • (e) the regulation of persons, vehicles or aircraft in a port;

  • (f) the regulation or prohibition of the excavation, removal or deposit of material or of any other action that is likely to affect in any way the navigability of a port or to affect any of the lands adjacent to a port;

  • (g) the regulation or prohibition of the transportation, handling or storing, in a port, of explosives or other substances that, in the opinion of the Governor in Council, constitute or are likely to constitute a danger or hazard to life or property; and

  • (h) the obligations of a port authority in respect of federal real property and federal immovables under the management of the port authority.

• Marginal note:Application

  (2) A regulation made under subsection (1) may apply to only one port.

• Marginal note:Application to Crown

  (3) A regulation made under subsection (1) may be made binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province.

• Marginal note:Transitional

  (4) Subject to subsection 49(6), any regulations made before the coming into force of this section with respect to a port in respect of which letters patent are issued to a port authority shall, to the extent that they are compatible with this Act, continue in force for a period ending on the earlier of the expiration of twelve months after the letters patent are issued and the date on which regulations to replace them are made under subsection (1) with respect to that port.

Marginal note:Powers re airport regulations

• 63 (1) A port authority has, in respect of the operation of an airport, the power to enforce regulations made by the Minister for the purpose of providing unobstructed airspace for the landing and taking off of aircraft at the airport.

• Marginal note:Regulating airports

  (2) Subject to its letters patent, a port authority

  • (a) shall make regulations in accordance with any agreement entered into by it with respect to an airport before the coming into force of this subsection; and

  • (b) may make regulations with the approval of the Governor in Council if there is no such agreement.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (3) The regulations referred to in subsection (2) are for the regulation and control of the airport and all persons engaged in the operation of aircraft at the airport, including regulations prohibiting the landing or taking off of aircraft of a certain type or aircraft exhibiting a certain characteristic.

• Marginal note:Application to Crown

  (4) A regulation made under subsection (2) may be made binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province.

• Marginal note:Transitional

  (5) Subject to subsection 49(6), any regulations made with respect to an airport before the coming into force of subsection (2) by a body that becomes a port authority under section 12 shall, to the extent that they are compatible with this Act, continue in force for a period ending on the earlier of

  • (a) the expiration of 12 months after letters patent are issued in respect of the port authority, and

  • (b) the date on which regulations to replace them are made under subsection (2) with respect to the airport.

Marginal note:Evidence of limits of navigable waters

64 A port authority may erect marks or signs to indicate the limits of the navigable waters under its jurisdiction and every mark or sign so erected is evidence of the limits of those waters.

Undertakings Situated in a Port

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

• 64.1 (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting any undertaking or class of undertakings that is situated or proposed to be situated in a port, including regulations respecting the development, use and environmental protection of the port as it relates to the undertaking or class of undertakings.

• Marginal note:Included powers

  (2) Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), a regulation made under that subsection may

  • (a) designate the undertakings or classes of undertakings to which the regulations apply;

  • (b) confer any legislative, administrative, judicial or other power on any person or body that the Governor in Council considers necessary to effectively regulate the undertaking;

  • (c) confer on any person or body the power, exercisable in circumstances and subject to conditions similar to those applicable to the exercise of that power under the law of the province in which the undertaking is situated,

    • (i) to make orders requiring any person or body to cease any work, comply with the regulations or take any measure to remedy the consequences of any contravention of the regulations, or

    • (ii) to do any work that the person or body considers necessary and to recover the costs of that work;

  • (d) fix, or prescribe the manner of calculating, any charge to be paid in respect of the undertaking;

  • (e) fix, or prescribe the manner of calculating, the rate of interest to be charged on amounts owing under the regulations;

  • (f) establish offences punishable on summary conviction for contraventions of the regulations, if similar acts or omissions constitute an offence under the laws in force in the province in which the undertaking is situated, and set, for such offences, fines or terms of imprisonment, or both, that are not more than the fines or terms of imprisonment applicable under those laws;

  • (g) establish administrative monetary penalties for contraventions of the regulations, if similar acts or omissions are punishable by administrative monetary penalties under the laws in force in the province in which the undertaking is situated, and set the amount of each of those penalties at an amount that is not more than the amount applicable under those laws;

  • (h) set limits on the liability of, and establish defences and immunities for, any person or body exercising a power or performing a duty or function under the regulations;

  • (i) confer on any person, for the purpose of verifying compliance with the regulations, the power to enter a place, to inspect the place and to seize and detain any thing found in that place, in circumstances and subject to conditions similar to those applicable to the exercise of that power under the law of the province in which the undertaking is situated;

  • (j) require that security be given or a trust or fund be established to secure the performance of any obligation imposed under the regulations;

  • (k) prescribe rules respecting the confidentiality or disclosure of any information obtained under the regulations;

  • (l) provide for the retention or the disposal, including the destruction, of documents, regardless of medium, that are created or submitted under the regulations;

  • (m) prescribe rules of procedure for hearings to be held in relation to the undertaking, including rules for the issuance of subpoenas to require the appearance of persons and the production of documents and rules requiring that evidence be given under oath, or confer on any person or body the power to prescribe those rules; and

  • (n) provide for the arbitration of disputes arising under the regulations.

• Marginal note:Application to Crown

  (3) A regulation made under subsection (1) may be made binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province.

Marginal note:Incorporation by reference

• 64.2 (1) A regulation made under subsection 64.1(1) may incorporate by reference any document produced by a person or body other than the Minister, including any Act of a province or legislative instrument made under such an Act, as it exists on a particular date or as it is amended from time to time, with any adaptations that the Governor in Council considers necessary.

• Marginal note:Existing power not limited

  (2) For greater certainty, the express power referred to in subsection (1) to incorporate a document by reference does not limit the power that otherwise exists to incorporate a document by reference in a regulation made under this Act.

Marginal note:Conflict with regulations under another Act

64.3 Regulations made under subsection 63(2) or under any other Act of Parliament prevail over regulations made under subsection 64.1(1) to the extent of any conflict or inconsistency between them, unless otherwise provided in the regulations made under subsection 64.1(1).

Marginal note:Conflict with rules

64.4 Regulations made under subsection 64.1(1) prevail over any by-laws, practices and procedures or other similar instruments, and land-use plans, made by a port authority to the extent of any conflict or inconsistency between them, unless otherwise provided in those regulations.