Bill C-26
If you have any questions or comments regarding the accessibility of this publication, please contact us at accessible@parl.gc.ca.
|
|
45 ELIZABETH II |
|
|
|
CHAPTER 31 |
|
|
|
An Act respecting the oceans of Canada
|
|
|
|
[Assented to 18th December, 1996]
|
|
| Preamble
|
WHEREAS Canada recognizes that the three
oceans, the Arctic, the Pacific and the
Atlantic, are the common heritage of all
Canadians;
|
|
|
|
WHEREAS Parliament wishes to reaffirm
Canada's role as a world leader in oceans and
marine resource management;
|
|
|
|
WHEREAS Parliament wishes to affirm in
Canadian domestic law Canada's sovereign
rights, jurisdiction and responsibilities in the
exclusive economic zone of Canada;
|
|
|
|
WHEREAS Canada promotes the
understanding of oceans, ocean processes,
marine resources and marine ecosystems to
foster the sustainable development of the
oceans and their resources;
|
|
|
|
WHEREAS Canada holds that
conservation, based on an ecosystem
approach, is of fundamental importance to
maintaining biological diversity and
productivity in the marine environment;
|
|
|
|
WHEREAS Canada promotes the wide
application of the precautionary approach to
the conservation, management and
exploitation of marine resources in order to
protect these resources and preserve the
marine environment;
|
|
|
|
WHEREAS Canada recognizes that the
oceans and their resources offer significant
opportunities for economic diversification
and the generation of wealth for the benefit of
all Canadians, and in particular for coastal
communities;
|
|
|
|
WHEREAS Canada promotes the
integrated management of oceans and marine
resources;
|
|
|
|
AND WHEREAS the Minister of Fisheries
and Oceans, in collaboration with other
ministers, boards and agencies of the
Government of Canada, with provincial and
territorial governments and with affected
aboriginal organizations, coastal
communities and other persons and bodies,
including those bodies established under land
claims agreements, is encouraging the
development and implementation of a
national strategy for the management of
estuarine, coastal and marine ecosystems;
|
|
|
|
NOW, THEREFORE, Her Majesty, by and
with the advice and consent of the Senate and
House of Commons of Canada, enacts as
follows:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SHORT TITLE |
|
| Short title
|
1. This Act may be cited as the Oceans Act.
|
|
|
|
INTERPRETATION |
|
| Definitions
|
2. In this Act,
|
|
| ``artificial
island'' « île artificielle »
|
``artificial island'' means any man-made
extension of the seabed or a seabed feature,
whether or not the extension breaks the
surface of the superjacent waters;
|
|
| ``Department'
' « ministère »
|
``Department'' means the Department of
Fisheries and Oceans;
|
|
| ``federal
laws'' « droit »
|
``federal laws'' includes Acts of Parliament,
regulations as defined in section 2 of the
Interpretation Act and any other rules of law
within the jurisdiction of Parliament, but
does not include ordinances within the
meaning of the Northwest Territories Act or
the Yukon Act or, after section 3 of the
Nunavut Act comes into force, laws made
by the Legislature for Nunavut or continued
by section 29 of that Act;
|
|
| ``law'' « droit »
|
``law'', in respect of a province, includes a law
or rule of law from time to time in force in
the province, other than federal laws, and
the provisions of any instrument having
effect under any such law;
|
|
| ``marine
installation or
structure'' « ouvrages en mer »
|
``marine installation or structure'' includes
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ``Minister'' « ministre »
|
``Minister'' means the Minister of Fisheries
and Oceans;
|
|
| ``ship'' « navire »
|
``ship'' includes any description of vessel,
boat or craft designed, used or capable of
being used solely or partly for marine
navigation without regard to method or lack
of propulsion.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Saving
|
2.1 For greater certainty, nothing in this Act
shall be construed so as to abrogate or
derogate from any existing aboriginal or
treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of
Canada under section 35 of the Constitution
Act, 1982.
|
|
|
|
HER MAJESTY |
|
| Her Majesty
|
3. This Act is binding on Her Majesty in
right of Canada or a province.
|
|
|
|
PART I |
|
|
|
CANADA'S MARITIME ZONES
|
|
|
|
Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone |
|
| Territorial sea
of Canada
|
4. The territorial sea of Canada consists of
a belt of sea that has as its inner limit the
baselines described in section 5 and as its outer
limit
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Determi- nation of the baselines
|
5. (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), the
baseline is the low-water line along the coast
or on a low-tide elevation that is situated
wholly or partly at a distance not exceeding
the breadth of the territorial sea of Canada
from the mainland or an island.
|
|
| Geographical
coordinates of
points
|
(2) In respect of any area for which
geographical coordinates of points have been
prescribed pursuant to subparagraph 25(a)(i)
and subject to any exceptions in the
regulations for
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
the baselines are straight lines interpreted as
geodesics joining the consecutive
geographical coordinates of points so
prescribed.
|
|
| Baselines
where historic
title
|
(3) In respect of any area not referred to in
subsection (2), the baselines are the outer
limits of any area, other than the territorial sea
of Canada, over which Canada has a historic
or other title of sovereignty.
|
|
| Low-tide
elevations
|
(4) For the purposes of this section, a
low-tide elevation is a naturally formed area
of land that is surrounded by and above water
at low tide but submerged at high tide.
|
|
| Internal
waters of
Canada
|
6. The internal waters of Canada consist of
the waters on the landward side of the
baselines of the territorial sea of Canada.
|
|
| Part of
Canada
|
7. For greater certainty, the internal waters
of Canada and the territorial sea of Canada
form part of Canada.
|
|
| Rights of Her
Majesty
|
8. (1) For greater certainty, in any area of the
sea not within a province, the seabed and
subsoil below the internal waters of Canada
and the territorial sea of Canada are vested in
Her Majesty in right of Canada.
|
|
| Saving
|
(2) Nothing in this section abrogates or
derogates from any legal right or interest held
before February 4, 1991.
|
|
| Application of
provincial law
|
9. (1) Subject to this section and to any other
Act of Parliament, the laws of a province
apply in any area of the sea
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Limitation
|
(2) Subject to any regulations made
pursuant to paragraph 26(1)(d), subsection (1)
does not apply in respect of any provision of
a law of a province that
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Interpreta- tion
|
(3) For the purposes of this section, the laws
of a province shall be applied as if the area of
the sea in which those laws apply under this
section were within the territory of that
province.
|
|
| Sums due to
province
|
(4) Any sum due under a law of a province
that applies in an area of the sea under this
section belongs to Her Majesty in right of the
province.
|
|
| Limitation
|
(5) For greater certainty, this section shall
not be interpreted as providing a basis for any
claim, by or on behalf of a province, in respect
of any interest in or legislative jurisdiction
over any area of the sea in which a law of a
province applies under this section or the
living or non-living resources of that area, or
as limiting the application of any federal laws.
|
|
| Contiguous
zone of
Canada
|
10. The contiguous zone of Canada consists
of an area of the sea that has as its inner limit
the outer limit of the territorial sea of Canada
and as its outer limit the line every point of
which is at a distance of 24 nautical miles from
the nearest point of the baselines of the
territorial sea of Canada, but does not include
an area of the sea that forms part of the
territorial sea of another state or in which
another state has sovereign rights.
|
|
| Prevention in
contiguous
zone of
infringement
of federal
laws
|
11. A person who is responsible for the
enforcement of a federal law that is a customs,
fiscal, immigration or sanitary law and who
has reasonable grounds to believe that a
person in the contiguous zone of Canada
would, if that person were to enter Canada,
commit an offence under that law may, subject
to Canada's international obligations, prevent
the entry of that person into Canada or the
commission of the offence and, for greater
certainty, section 25 of the Criminal Code
applies in respect of the exercise by a person
of any powers under this section.
|
|
| Enforcement
in contiguous
zone of
federal laws
|
12. (1) Where there are reasonable grounds
to believe that a person has committed an
offence in Canada in respect of a federal law
that is a customs, fiscal, immigration or
sanitary law, every power of arrest, entry,
search or seizure or other power that could be
exercised in Canada in respect of that offence
may also be exercised in the contiguous zone
of Canada.
|
|
| Limitation
|
(2) A power of arrest referred to in
subsection (1) shall not be exercised in the
contiguous zone of Canada on board any ship
registered outside Canada without the consent
of the Attorney General of Canada.
|
|
|
|
Exclusive Economic Zone |
|
| Exclusive
economic
zone of
Canada
|
13. (1) The exclusive economic zone of
Canada consists of an area of the sea beyond
and adjacent to the territorial sea of Canada
that has as its inner limit the outer limit of the
territorial sea of Canada and as its outer limit
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Determi- nation of the outer limit of the exclusive economic zone of Canada
|
(2) For greater certainty, paragraph (1)(a)
applies regardless of whether regulations are
made pursuant to subparagraph 25(a)(iv)
prescribing geographical coordinates of
points from which the outer limit of the
exclusive economic zone of Canada may be
determined.
|
|
| Sovereign
rights and
jurisdiction of
Canada
|
14. Canada has
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Rights of Her
Majesty
|
15. (1) For greater certainty, any rights of
Canada in the seabed and subsoil of the
exclusive economic zone of Canada and their
resources are vested in Her Majesty in right of
Canada.
|
|
| Saving
|
(2) Nothing in this section abrogates or
derogates from any legal right or interest held
before February 4, 1991.
|
|
| Fishing zones
of Canada
|
16. The fishing zones of Canada consist of
areas of the sea adjacent to the coast of Canada
that are prescribed in the regulations.
|
|