Canada Marine Act (S.C. 1998, c. 10)

Limits on Liability, Defences and Immunities

Marginal note:Acts and omissions

64.92 In respect of any act or omission occurring in the exercise of a power or the performance of a duty or function under a regulation made under subsection 64.1(1),

• (a) Her Majesty in right of Canada is entitled to the same limits on liability, defences and immunities as those that would apply to Her Majesty in right of the province in which the undertaking that is the subject of the regulation is situated when Her Majesty in right of that province exercises such a power or performs such a duty or function under the law of that province; and

• (b) a port authority and any person or body exercising the power or performing the duty or function is entitled, unless otherwise provided by the regulation, to the same limits on liability, defences and immunities as those that would apply to a person or body when the person or body exercises such a power or performs such a duty or function under the law of the province in which the undertaking that is the subject of the regulation is situated.

Marginal note:Right or interest in port

64.93 No civil proceeding may be brought, no order may be made and no fine or monetary penalty may be imposed against Her Majesty in right of Canada or a port authority, in relation to an undertaking that is situated in a port, under regulations made under subsection 64.1(1), based on any right or interest held by Her Majesty or the port authority in that port.

PART 2Public Ports

Designation by Governor in Council

Marginal note:Designation by regulation

• 65 (1) The Governor in Council may, by regulation,

  • (a) designate as a public port any navigable waters within the jurisdiction of Parliament and any land covered by the navigable waters, if the land is under the administration of the Minister, including any related foreshore;

  • (b) define the limits of a public port; and

  • (c) designate any port facility under the administration of the Minister as a public port facility.

• Marginal note:Deemed public ports

  (2) Every port and port facility that on the coming into force of this section was a public harbour or public port facility to which the Public Harbours and Port Facilities Act applied is deemed to have been designated under subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Deemed public ports

  (3) With the exception of a port for which a port authority is incorporated under Part 1, every port and facility to which the Canada Ports Corporation Act applied on the coming into force of this section is deemed to have been designated under subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Deemed public ports

  (4) For greater certainty, the Governor in Council may make regulations under subsection (1) in respect of any public harbour or public port facility that is deemed under subsection (2) or (3) to have been designated and, in the case of a public port, define its limits.

• Marginal note:Evidence of limits of navigable waters

  (5) The Minister may have marks or signs erected to indicate the limits of the navigable waters of a public port and every mark or sign so erected is evidence of the limits of those waters.

• Marginal note:Repeal of designations

  (6) The Governor in Council may, by regulation, repeal the designation of a public port or public port facility made or deemed to have been made under this section.

• Marginal note:Orders continued

  (7) A termination order made under subsection 8(2) of the Public Harbours and Port Facilities Act is deemed to be a regulation made under subsection (6) and continues in force until it is repealed under the latter subsection.

Marginal note:Federal Real Property and Federal Immovables Act

• 66 (1) For the purposes of the Federal Real Property and Federal Immovables Act, the Minister has the administration of the federal real property and federal immovables that form part of a public port or public port facility.

• Marginal note:Other ports and facilities

  (2) The Minister does not have the administration of the federal real property and federal immovables that are under the administration of any other member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada.

• Marginal note:Power of Minister

  (3) For greater certainty, the repeal of the designation of a public port or public port facility does not terminate the application of the Federal Real Property and Federal Immovables Act to the federal real property and federal immovables that formed part of the port or facility and that are owned by Her Majesty in right of Canada.

Fees

Marginal note:Fixing of fees

• 67 (1) The Minister may fix the fees to be paid in respect of

  • (a) ships, vehicles, aircraft and persons coming into or using a public port or public port facility;

  • (b) goods loaded on ships, unloaded from ships or transhipped by water within the limits of a public port or stored in, or moved across, a public port facility; and

  • (c) any service provided by the Minister, or any right or privilege conferred by the Minister, in respect of the operation of a public port or public port facility.

• Marginal note:Interest

  (2) The Minister may fix the interest rate to be charged on overdue fees.

• Marginal note:Application to Crown

  (3) The fees and the interest rate may be made binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province.

• Marginal note:Application to military and police ships

  (4) The fees fixed under paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) do not apply in respect of a Canadian warship, naval auxiliary ship or other ship under the command of the Canadian Forces, a ship of a visiting force within the meaning of the Visiting Forces Act or any other ship while it is under the command of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Marginal note:Services

68 The Minister may enter into agreements to provide services, rights or privileges, as the Minister considers appropriate, at a public port or public port facility and may agree by contract to accept fees other than those fixed under subsection 67(1) for those services, rights and privileges.

Harbour Masters and Wharfingers

Marginal note:Harbour masters and wharfingers

• 69 (1) The Minister may appoint as a harbour master or wharfinger for all or part of a public port or public port facility any person who, in the Minister’s opinion, is qualified and assign responsibilities to that person, including the responsibility to collect fees and interest on fees.

• Marginal note:Remuneration

  (2) The Minister may fix the remuneration to be paid to a harbour master or wharfinger and the amounts of the remuneration may, notwithstanding anything in the Financial Administration Act, be paid out of the fees collected in respect of public ports and public port facilities.

• Marginal note:Transitional

  (3) An appointment as a harbour master or wharfinger made by the Minister under subsection 11(2) of the Public Harbours and Ports Facilities Act, and the remuneration determined by the Governor in Council under subsection 11(3) of that Act in respect of that appointment, continue in effect as though they had been made and fixed under this section.

Agreements

Marginal note:Agreements

70 The Minister may enter into agreements with any person or body in respect of the management or operation of a public port or public port facility, or a group of them.

Federal Real Property and Federal Immovables

Marginal note:Leases and licences

• 71 (1) Despite the Federal Real Property and Federal Immovables Act, the Minister may lease any federal real property or federal immovable that forms, or formed, part of a public port or public port facility or grant a licence in respect of the property, for twenty years or for a longer period with the approval of the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Application of provincial law

  (2) A lease or licence of any federal real property or federal immovable may be effected by any instrument by which, under the laws in force in the province in which that property is situated, real property or immovables may be leased or a licence may be granted by a private person.

Marginal note:Agreements for disposal or transfer

• 72 (1) The Minister may enter into agreements in respect of

  • (a) the disposal of all or part of the federal real property and federal immovables that formed part of a public port or public port facility by sale or any other means; and

  • (b) the transfer of the administration and control of all or part of the federal real property and federal immovables that formed part of a public port or public port facility to Her Majesty in right of a province.

• Marginal note:Content of agreements

  (2) The agreements may include

  • (a) provisions for the performance and enforcement of obligations under the agreements; and

  • (b) any other terms and conditions that the Minister considers appropriate.

• Marginal note:Security

  (3) The Minister may

  • (a) accept and hold on behalf of Her Majesty any security granted to Her Majesty under the agreements or any security granted in substitution for them; and

  • (b) release or realize on any security referred to in paragraph (a).

• Marginal note:Authority to carry out agreements

  (4) The Minister may take any measures that the Minister considers appropriate to carry out the agreements and to protect the interests or enforce the rights of Her Majesty under them.

• Marginal note:Disposal and transfer

  (5) The disposal or transfer of federal real property and federal immovables may be effected under the authority of this section or the Federal Real Property and Federal Immovables Act.

• Marginal note:Application of provincial law

  (6) The disposal or transfer of federal real property and federal immovables under this section may be effected by any instrument by which, under the laws in force in the province in which that property is situated, real property or immovables may be transferred by a private person.

• (7) [Repealed, 2008, c. 21, s. 39]

• Marginal note:Minister responsible

  (8) Subject to any regulations made under section 74, the Minister continues to have the management of public ports and public port facilities that the Minister has not disposed of or transferred.

General

Marginal note:Canadian Navigable Waters Act

73 The Canadian Navigable Waters Act does not apply to a work, as defined in section 2 of that Act, that has been exempted by a regulation made under section 74.

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

• 74 (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations for the management, control, development and use of public ports and public port facilities, including regulations respecting

  • (a) the navigation and use by ships of a public 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 public ports and public port facilities, 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 within the limits of a public port and provision for the recovery of the costs incurred;

  • (d) the maintenance of order and the safety of persons and property within the limits of a public port or at a public port facility;

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

  • (e) the regulation of persons, vehicles or aircraft within the limits of a public port or at a public port facility;

  • (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 public port or the operation of a public port facility or to affect any of the lands adjacent to a port or facility; and

  • (g) the regulation or prohibition of the transportation, handling or storing, within the limits of a public port or at a public port facility, 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.

• Marginal note:Application

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

• 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:Coming into force of regulations

75 Regulations made under section 12 of the Public Harbours and Port Facilities Act are deemed to have been made under this Part and continue in force until

• (a) in the case of regulations in respect of rates, tolls, fees or other charges, they are repealed by the Minister; and

• (b) in any other case, they are repealed by regulations made under subsection 74(1).

Traffic Control

Marginal note:Traffic control

76 Subject to regulations made under subsection 74(1), a person or a member of a class of persons designated by the Minister under this section may take the measures necessary for the control of traffic in a public port, and sections 56 to 59 apply with such modifications as the circumstances require, except that, in making those modifications to section 58, the references in that section to a person or member of a class of persons designated under subsection 58(1) shall be taken to be references to a person or member of a class of persons designated under this section.

PART 3Seaway

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

77 The definitions in this section apply in this Part.

Authority

Authority means The St. Lawrence Seaway Authority established by subsection 3(1) of the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority Act. (Administration)

not-for-profit corporation

not-for-profit corporation means a not-for-profit corporation described in subsection 80(5). (société sans but lucratif)