Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. A-12)

Marginal note:Assistance to pollution prevention officers

16 The owner or person in charge of any area, place or premises entered pursuant to subsection 15(1) or (2), the master of any ship boarded pursuant to paragraph 15(4)(a) and every person found in the area, place or premises or on board the ship shall give a pollution prevention officer all reasonable assistance to enable the officer to carry out his duties and functions under this Act and shall furnish the officer with any information he may reasonably require.

Marginal note:Obstruction and false statements

17 No person shall obstruct or hinder, or knowingly make a false or misleading statement either orally or in writing to, a pollution prevention officer while the officer is engaged in carrying out his duties or functions under this Act.

Offences and Punishment

Marginal note:Contravention of subsection 4(1)

• 18 (1) Any person who contravenes subsection 4(1) and any ship that contravenes that subsection is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding, in the case of a person, five thousand dollars and, in the case of a ship, one hundred thousand dollars.

• Marginal note:Continuing offences

  (2) Where an offence referred to in subsection (1) is committed by a person on more than one day or continued by him for more than one day, it shall be deemed to be a separate offence for each day on which it is committed or continued.

Marginal note:Additional offences by persons

• 19 (1) Any person who

  • (a) fails to make a report to a pollution prevention officer as and when required under subsection 5(1),

  • (b) fails to provide the Governor in Council with evidence of financial responsibility as and when required under subsection 8(1),

  • (c) fails to provide the Governor in Council with any plans and specifications required of the person under subsection 10(1), or

  • (d) constructs, alters or extends any work described in subsection 10(2)

    • (i) otherwise than in accordance with any plans and specifications provided to the Governor in Council in accordance with a requirement made under subsection 10(1), or with any such plans and specifications as required to be modified by any order made under subsection 10(3), or

    • (ii) contrary to any order made under subsection 10(3) prohibiting the carrying out of the construction, alteration or extension,

  is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars.

• Marginal note:Additional offences by ships

  (2) Any ship

  • (a) that navigates within a shipping safety control zone when the ship does not comply with standards prescribed by any regulations made under section 12 that are applicable to it within that shipping safety control zone,

  • (b) that navigates within a shipping safety control zone in contravention of a regulation made under paragraph 12(1)(b) or (c),

  • (c) that, having taken on board a pilot in order to comply with a regulation made under paragraph 12(1)(b), fails to comply with any reasonable directions given to it by the pilot in carrying out his duties,

  • (d) that fails to comply with any order of a pollution prevention officer under paragraph 15(4)(b) or (c) that is applicable to it,

  • (e) the master of which fails to make a report to a pollution prevention officer as and when required under subsection 5(2), or

  • (f) the master of which, or any person on board which, contravenes section 17,

  is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars.

• Marginal note:Contravention of section 17

  (3) Any person, other than the master of a ship or any person on board a ship, who contravenes section 17 is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

Marginal note:Offence by employee or agent

• 20 (1) In a prosecution of a person for an offence under subsection 18(1), it is sufficient proof of the offence to establish that it was committed by an employee or agent of the accused, whether or not the employee or agent is identified or has been prosecuted for the offence, unless the accused establishes that the offence was committed without the knowledge or consent of, and that all due diligence to prevent its commission was exercised by, the accused.

• Marginal note:Proof of offence by ship

  (2) In a prosecution of a ship for an offence under this Act, it is sufficient proof that the ship has committed the offence to establish that the act or neglect that constitutes the offence was committed by the master of or any person on board the ship, other than a pollution prevention officer or a pilot taken on board in compliance with a regulation made under paragraph12(1)(b), whether or not the person on board the ship has been identified.

• Marginal note:Orders and directions deemed given to ship

  (3) For the purposes of any prosecution of a ship for failing to comply with any order or direction of a pollution prevention officer or pilot, any order given by the officer or any direction given by the pilot to the master or any person on board the ship shall be deemed to have been given to the ship.

Marginal note:Certificate of analyst

• 21 (1) Subject to this section, a certificate purporting to be signed by an analyst and stating that the analyst has analyzed or examined a sample submitted by a pollution prevention officer to the analyst and stating the result of the analysis or examination is admissible in evidence in any prosecution for a contravention of subsection 4(1) and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is proof of the statements contained in the certificate without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed the certificate.

• Marginal note:Attendance of analyst

  (2) The party against whom a certificate of an analyst is produced pursuant to subsection (1) may, with leave of the court, require the attendance of the analyst for the purposes of cross-examination.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (3) No certificate shall be admitted in evidence pursuant to subsection (1) unless the party intending to produce it has given reasonable notice of that intention, together with a copy of the certificate, to the party against whom it is intended to be produced.

Marginal note:Jurisdiction

• 22 (1) Where any person or ship 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 within the limits of the ordinary jurisdiction of that court has jurisdiction to try the offence as if it had been so committed.

• Marginal note:Service on ship and appearance at trial

  (2) Where a ship is charged with having committed an offence under this Act, the summons may be served by leaving it with the master or any officer of the ship or by posting the summons on a conspicuous part of the ship, and the ship may appear by counsel or agent but, if it does not appear, a summary conviction court may, on proof of service of the summons, proceed ex parte to hold the trial.

Seizure and Forfeiture

Marginal note:Seizure of ship and cargo

• 23 (1) Where a pollution prevention officer suspects on reasonable grounds that

  • (a) any provision of this Act or the regulations has been contravened by a ship, or

  • (b) the owner of a ship or the owner of all or part of the cargo thereof has committed an offence under paragraph 19(1)(b),

  the officer may, with the consent of the Governor in Council, seize the ship and its cargo anywhere in the arctic waters or elsewhere in the territorial sea or internal or inland waters of Canada.

• Marginal note:Custody

  (2) Subject to subsection (3) and sections 24 to 26, a ship and cargo seized under subsection (1) shall be retained in the custody of the pollution prevention officer making the seizure or shall be delivered into the custody of such person as the Governor in Council directs.

• Marginal note:Perishable goods

  (3) Where all or any part of a cargo seized under subsection (1) is perishable, the pollution prevention officer or other person having custody of it may sell the cargo or the perishable portion, as the case may be, and the proceeds of the sale shall be paid to the Receiver General or shall be deposited in a bank, or an authorized foreign bank within the meaning of section 2 of the Bank Act, that is not subject to the restrictions and requirements referred to in subsection 524(2) of that Act, in respect of its business in Canada, to the credit of the Receiver General.

Marginal note:Court may order forfeiture

• 24 (1) Where a ship is convicted of an offence under this Act, or where the owner of a ship or an owner of all or part of the cargo thereof is convicted of an offence under paragraph 19(1)(b), the convicting court may, if the ship and its cargo were seized under subsection 23(1), in addition to any other penalty imposed, order that the ship and cargo or the ship or its cargo or any part thereof be forfeited and, on the making of the order, the ship and cargo or the ship or its cargo or part thereof are or is forfeited to Her Majesty in right of Canada.

• Marginal note:Forfeiture of proceeds of sale

  (2) Where any cargo or part thereof that is ordered to be forfeited under subsection (1) has been sold under subsection 23(3), the proceeds of the sale are, on the making of that order, forfeited to Her Majesty in right of Canada.

Marginal note:Redelivery of ship and cargo on bond

• 25 (1) Where a ship and cargo have been seized under subsection 23(1) and proceedings that could result in an order that the ship and cargo be forfeited have been instituted, the court in or before which the proceedings have been instituted may, with the consent of the Governor in Council, order redelivery of the ship and cargo, to the person from whom they were seized, on the giving of security to Her Majesty in right of Canada by bond, with two sureties, in an amount and form satisfactory to the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Seized ship, etc., to be returned unless proceedings instituted

  (2) Any ship and cargo seized under subsection 23(1) or the proceeds realized from a sale of any perishable cargo under subsection 23(3) shall be returned or paid to the person from whom the ship and cargo were seized within thirty days from the seizure thereof unless, prior to the expiration of the thirty days, proceedings are instituted in respect of an offence alleged to have been committed by the ship against this Act or in respect of an offence under paragraph 19(1)(b) alleged to have been committed by the owner of the ship or an owner of all or part of the cargo thereof.

• Marginal note:Return if no forfeiture ordered

  (3) Where a ship and cargo have been seized under subsection 23(1) and proceedings referred to in subsection (2) have been instituted, but the ship and cargo or ship or cargo or part thereof or any proceeds realized from the sale of the cargo or any part thereof are not at the final conclusion of the proceedings ordered to be forfeited, they or it shall, subject to subsection (4), be returned or the proceeds shall be paid to the person from whom the ship and cargo were seized.

• Marginal note:Exception in case of conviction and fine

  (4) Where the proceedings referred to in subsection (3) result in a conviction and a fine is imposed,

  • (a) the ship and cargo or proceeds may be detained until the fine is paid;

  • (b) the ship and cargo may be sold under execution in satisfaction of the fine; or

  • (c) the proceeds realized from a sale of the cargo or any part thereof may be applied in payment of the fine.

Marginal note:Disposal of forfeited ship

26 Where proceedings referred to in subsection 25(2) are instituted and, at the final conclusion of those proceedings, a ship and cargo or ship or cargo or part thereof are or is ordered to be forfeited, they or it may, subject to section 27, be disposed of as the Governor in Council directs.

Marginal note:Protection of persons claiming interest

• 27 (1) The provisions of sections 74 to 77 of the Fisheries Act apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, in respect of any ship and cargo forfeited under this Act as though the ship and cargo were, respectively, a vessel and goods forfeited under subsection 72(1) of that Act.

• Marginal note:Reading references in applying Fisheries Act

  (2) References to “the Minister” in sections 75 and 76 of the Fisheries Act shall, in applying those sections for the purposes of this Act, be read as references to the Governor in Council and the phrase “other than a person convicted of the offence that resulted in the forfeiture or a person in whose possession the vessel, vehicle, article, goods or fish were when seized” shall be deemed to include a reference to the owner of the ship where it is the ship that is convicted of the offence that results in the forfeiture.