Marine Liability Act (S.C. 2001, c. 6)

Marginal note:Proceedings under section 51

• 90. (1) If a claimant commences proceedings against the owner of a ship or the owner’s guarantor in respect of a matter referred to in subsection 51(1), except in the case of proceedings commenced by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans under paragraph 51(1)(c) in respect of a pollutant other than oil,

  • (a) the document commencing the proceedings shall be served on the Administrator by delivering a copy of it personally to the Administrator, or by leaving the copy at the Administrator’s latest known address, and the Administrator is then a party to the proceedings; and

  • (b) the Administrator shall appear and take any action, including being a party to a settlement either before or after judgment, that the Administrator considers appropriate for the proper administration of the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund.

• Marginal note:When Administrator is a party to a settlement

  (2) If the Administrator is a party to a settlement under paragraph (1)(b), the Administrator shall direct payment to the claimant of the amount that the Administrator has agreed to pay under the settlement.

Marginal note:Limit of liability of Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund in first year

• 91. (1) The maximum aggregate liability of the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund under sections 84, 86 and 88 and under any settlement, in respect of any particular occurrence, is

  • (a) $100,000,000 if the occurrence took place in the year ending March 31, 1990; or

  • (b) if the occurrence takes place in any following year, an amount calculated in accordance with subsection (2).

• Marginal note:Annual adjustment of limit of liability

  (2) The $100,000,000 limit of liability referred to in paragraph (1)(a) shall be adjusted annually so that the limit of liability arising out of any given occurrence that takes place in any following year is an amount equal to the product obtained by multiplying

  • (a) the limit of liability that would have been applicable for that following year if no adjustment had been made under this section with respect to that following year

  by

  • (b) the ratio that the Consumer Price Index, excluding the food and energy components, for the 12-month period ending on December 31 next before that following year bears to the Consumer Price Index, excluding the food and energy components, for the 12-month period next before that 12-month period.

• Marginal note:Consumer Price Index

  (3) For the purpose of this section,

  • (a) a reference to the “Consumer Price Index, excluding the food and energy components,” for any 12-month period means the average of the Consumer Price Index for Canada, excluding the food and energy components, as published by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act, for each month in that 12-month period;

  • (b) the Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, make regulations prescribing the manner in which the average of the Consumer Price Index, excluding the food and energy components, for any 12-month period is to be determined and the manner of expressing any such average that is determined to be a fraction of a whole number;

  • (c) if at any time the Consumer Price Index for Canada, as published by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act, is adjusted to reflect a new time basis, a corresponding adjustment shall be made in the Consumer Price Index, excluding the food and energy components, for any 12-month period that is used for the purpose of calculating the limit of liability of the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund under this section; and

  • (d) if at any time the Consumer Price Index for Canada, as published by Statistics Canada under the authority of the Statistics Act, is modified to reflect a new content basis, that modification does not affect the operation of this section.

• Marginal note:Adjusted limit to be published annually

  (4) The Minister shall cause the limit of liability referred to in subsection (1), adjusted in accordance with this section, to be published in the Canada Gazette each year as soon as it is available, and the limit of liability so published is admissible in any proceeding under this Part as conclusive proof of that limit of liability for the year in question.