General

Navigable Waters Protection Act

73. The Navigable Waters Protection Act does not apply to a work, within the meaning of that Act, to which regulations made under section 74 of this Act apply.

Regulations

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;

    (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.

Application

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

Application to Crown

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

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    (a) in the case of regulations in respect of rates, tolls, fees or other charges, they are repealed by the Minister; and

    (b) in any other case, they are repealed by regulations made under subsection 74(1).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

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 3

SEAWAY

Interpretation

Definitions

77. The definitions in this section apply in this Part.

``Authority''
« Adminis-
tration »

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

``not-for-
profit corporation''
« société sans but lucratif »

``not-for-profit corporation'' means a not-for-profit corporation described in subsection 80(5).

Objectives

Objectives

78. The objectives of this Part are to

    (a) promote a commercial approach to the operation of the Seaway;

    (b) protect the integrity of the Seaway;

    (c) protect the rights and interests of communities adjacent to the Seaway;

    (d) protect the long-term operation and viability of the Seaway as an integral part of Canada's national transportation infrastructure;

    (e) promote the competitiveness of the Seaway;

    (f) protect the significant investment that the Government of Canada has made in respect of the Seaway;

    (g) encourage user involvement in the operation of the Seaway; and

    (h) encourage new cooperative arrangements with the United States for the management of the transportation facilities and services in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region.

Powers of Minister

Powers of Minister

79. The Minister may

    (a) acquire lands for, and construct, maintain and operate the works that are necessary for, the operation of the Seaway, including works either wholly in Canada or in conjunction with works undertaken by an appropriate authority in the United States;

    (b) construct, maintain and operate any works in connection with the Seaway that the Governor in Council may deem necessary to fulfil an obligation undertaken or to be undertaken by Canada pursuant to any present or future agreement between Canada and the United States;

    (c) operate and manage bridges, including acquire lands for, and construct, maintain and operate, alone or jointly or in conjunction with an appropriate authority in the United States, bridges connecting Canada with the United States and, to that end or as incidental to it, acquire shares or property of any bridge company;

    (d) acquire lands for, and construct or otherwise acquire, maintain and operate, any works or other property that the Governor in Council may deem necessary for works undertaken pursuant to this Part;

    (e) fix the fees to be charged for the use of any property under the Minister's administration that forms part of the Seaway or for any service provided or any right or privilege conferred in connection with the Seaway; and

    (f) take any measures that may be necessary for the purposes of any present or future agreement in respect of the Seaway.

Transfer

80. (1) The Minister may direct the Authority to transfer, on the terms and conditions specified by the Minister, all or part of its property or undertakings to the Minister, any other member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, any other person or any body established under an international agreement, and the Authority shall immediately comply.

Transfer by Minister

(2) Where any property or undertaking is transferred to the Minister under subsection (1), the Minister may transfer it to any other member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, any other person or any body established under an international agreement.

Federal Real Property Act

(3) The Federal Real Property Act does not apply to a transfer under subsection (1) or (2) unless it is a sale of land to a person or body other than the Minister or any other member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.

Surplus Crown Assets Act

(4) The Surplus Crown Assets Act does not apply to a transfer under subsection (1) or (2).

Agreements

(5) The Minister may enter into agreements in respect of all or part of the Seaway and the property or undertakings referred to in subsection (1) or (2) and those agreements may be with a not-for-profit corporation that accords a major role to Seaway users, in particular in the way in which directors of the corporation are appointed and in its operations, or, where the Minister considers it appropriate, with any other person or any body established under an international agreement.

Contents of agreements

(6) An agreement may include any terms and conditions that the Minister considers appropriate, including provisions respecting

    (a) the transfer of all or part of the property or undertakings referred to in subsection (1) or (2);

    (b) the management and operation of all or part of the Seaway or the property or undertakings referred to in subsection (1) or (2);

    (c) the construction, maintenance and operation of all or part of the Seaway;

    (d) the charging of fees;

    (e) the performance and enforcement of obligations under the agreement;

    (f) the transfer of officers and employees of the Authority;

    (g) the making of financial contributions or grants or the giving of any other financial assistance;

    (h) the imposition of additional obligations of financial management; and

    (i) where the agreement is with a body referred to in subsection (5), the application of any of the provisions of this Part relating to an agreement with a not-for-profit corporation or other person referred to in that subsection.

Existing rights

(7) A transfer of land under paragraph (6)(a) does not affect a right or interest of any person or body of persons, including an Indian band within the meaning of the Indian Act, that existed in the land before the coming into force of this Part.

Termination of agreement

(8) The terms of an agreement with a not-for-profit corporation or other person shall include

    (a) a clause providing for the termination of the agreement in the event of the establishment of a body under an international agreement in respect of the Seaway; and

    (b) a clause providing for the protection of the rights of privacy of persons affected by the agreement and, in that regard, may include a clause requiring the not-for-profit corporation or other person to obligate itself to provide for privacy protection in its contracts with or in respect of affected persons, including employment contracts and collective agreements.

Authority to carry out agreements

(9) The Minister may take any measures that the Minister considers appropriate to carry out an agreement and to protect the interests or enforce the rights of Her Majesty under an agreement, including, if the agreement so provides, making advances to, and receiving advances from, the person with whom the agreement is made and determining the rates of interest that apply.

Security

(10) The Minister may

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

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

Obligations

(11) The obligations imposed in respect of a not-for-profit corporation under sections 83 to 89 apply equally to a person who has entered into an agreement under subsection 80(5) to the extent that the agreement so provides.

Consolidated Revenue Fund

81. An amount payable by the Minister under an agreement entered into under subsection 80(5) is payable out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Rights and obligations preserved

82. The rights and obligations of a person who enters into an agreement under subsection 80(5) are, where the agreement so provides and the Minister has published a notice in the Canada Gazette to that effect, as follows:

    (a) the name of the person shall be substituted for that of the Authority in every contract, collective agreement, lease, licence, permit or other document entered into or granted by the Authority, other than those set out specifically or by class in the agreement and notice; and

    (b) the personal property, and any rights related to the property, that the Authority administers, or the title to which it holds, on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Canada, whether or not in its own name, other than those set out specifically or by class in the agreement and notice, become the property and rights of the person.

Annual Meeting

Meeting open to public

83. (1) A not-for-profit corporation shall each year hold a meeting that is open to the public in each city mentioned in the agreement, in premises large enough to accommodate the anticipated attendance, to inform the public about its activities in respect of the operation of the Seaway.

Notice of meeting

(2) The not-for-profit corporation shall, at least thirty days before a meeting, have notice of the meeting published in a major newspaper published or distributed in each city mentioned in the agreement, setting out the time and location of the meeting and specifying that the financial statements relating to the operation of the Seaway are available to the public at its principal place of business.

Availability to public

(3) The not-for-profit corporation shall ensure, at each meeting,

    (a) that there are available a sufficient number of copies of the most recent audited annual financial statements relating to the operation of the Seaway for the persons present at the meeting; and

    (b) that its chief executive officer and directors are available to answer questions about the operation of the Seaway posed by the persons present at the meeting.