BILL C-61

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

WAR VETERANS ALLOWANCE ACT

(b.1) a merchant navy veteran of World War I or World War II,

(g) a Canadian merchant navy veteran of the Korean War;

(a) at any time during the period beginning on March 1, 1995 and ending on December 19, 1995, was in receipt of, or had a right to receive, an allowance referred to in subsection (1) while residing outside Canada, or

(b) was the spouse or child of an allied veteran or an allied dual service veteran referred to in subsection (1) who, at any time during the period beginning on March 1, 1995 and ending on December 19, 1995, was in receipt of, or had a right to receive, an allowance referred to in subsection (1) while residing outside Canada

(a) a ship registered or licensed in Canada or Newfoundland, except

(i) a ship chartered by bareboat charter to a charterer resident outside Canada or Newfoundland, or

(ii) a ship taken over and operated by any allied country; and

(b) a ship, wherever registered or licensed, having a crew engaged under the laws of Canada or Newfoundland and

(i) chartered by bareboat charter to a charterer resident in Canada or Newfoundland, or

(ii) taken over and operated by, under the control of, or on behalf of the Canadian Shipping Board or a Canadian naval authority.

(a) the Distressed Seamen Regulations, made by Order in Council P.C. 609 of March 23, 1937, as those regulations read at the relevant time; or

(b) Order in Council P.C. 8592 of November 9, 1943.

(a) the waters of the St. Lawrence River seaward from a line drawn due south across that river from the mouth of the Saguenay River; or

(b) the waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca westward beyond 124o 30' West longitude.

(a) by shipowners or shipping companies under the authority of decisions, findings or directions of the National War Labour Board pursuant to

(i) the Wartime Wages and Cost of Living Bonus Order, Order in Council P.C. 8253 of October 24, 1941,

(ii) the Wartime Wages Control Order, Order in Council P.C. 5963 of July 10, 1942, or

(iii) the Wartime Wages Control Order, 1943, Order in Council P.C. 9384 of December 9, 1943,

as those respective orders read at the relevant time; or

(b) by the Government of Canada pursuant to Order in Council P.C. 122/7359 of August 19, 1942, as it read at the relevant time.

(a) the status of a vessel and of the members of its crew, and the class of voyage in which a vessel was engaged, shall be determined according to the Canada Shipping Act, 1934 and the regulations made thereunder, as that Act and those regulations read at the relevant time;

(b) the official records verifying the authenticity of any ship, other than a ship registered in Canada or Newfoundland, shall be those used under international practice or under the laws of the country of registration;

(c) a ship does not qualify as a Canadian ship or an allied ship if, at the relevant time,

(i) it was neither registered nor licensed,

(ii) it was a pleasure yacht not engaged in trade, or

(iii) it was engaged in the fishing industry;

(d) where official records of a person's service as a merchant navy veteran of World War I or World War II or as a Canadian merchant navy veteran of the Korean War are not available, the Minister may accept a statutory declaration or like statement from anyone if

(i) information about the existence of any registered or licensed ship on which it is claimed that the person served is corroborated by official records,

(ii) no information in the declaration or statement is contradicted by other evidence, and

(iii) after taking into consideration such corroboration as may be available, the Minister is satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the information in the declaration or statement is true,

but this paragraph does not apply in relation to subparagraph (7.3)(a)(i) with respect to the availability of war risk bonus;

(e) a person's domicile shall be understood as meaning the person's domicile at the commencement of the service, activity or status referred to in paragraph (7.3)(d); and

(f) the Minister may presume death in every case where, according to the evidence available as to the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the person whose death is in question or the loss of the ship on which the person was serving, the Minister is satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the death has in fact occurred.

(a) any person who, during World War I or World War II, served on board a Canadian ship while it was making

(i) a voyage for which war risk bonus was available, as verified by articles of agreement or other official documentation,

(ii) a foreign voyage,

(iii) a home-trade voyage any part of which went outside the territorial waters of Canada and was

(A) between a place in Canada and a place in the United States, in either direction,

(B) between a place in one province and a place in another province,

(C) between a place in Newfoundland or Saint Pierre and Miquelon and a place outside Newfoundland and Saint Pierre and Miquelon, in either direction, or

(D) a search and rescue, salvage, cable-laying or cable-repairing operation, or

(iv) a voyage during the course of which

(A) the ship served on, or another Canadian or allied ship in the vicinity of the ship served on, was attacked by the enemy, or

(B) the ship served on was attacked or damaged

(I) by friendly forces engaging in action or counteraction against the enemy, or

(II) as a result of marine hazards due to the war;

(b) any person who, during World War I or World War II, made a trip by sea, land or air through or over a theatre of actual war for the purpose of

(i) proceeding to a Canadian ship in order to serve on a voyage referred to in subparagraph (a)(i), (ii) or (iii), or

(ii) returning to Canada, or to the country of which the person was a citizen or national, from having made a voyage referred to in subparagraph (a)(i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) or from service referred to in paragraph (c);

(c) any person who, as a member of a Canadian manning pool during World War I or World War II, served in a theatre of actual war;

(d) any person domiciled in Canada who, during World War I or World War II,

(i) served on board an allied ship while it was making a voyage referred to in subparagraph (a)(i), (ii), (iii) or (iv),

(ii) made a trip by sea, land or air through or over a theatre of actual war for the purpose of

(A) proceeding to an allied ship in order to serve on a voyage referred to in subparagraph (a)(i), (ii) or (iii), or

(B) returning to Canada from having made a voyage referred to in subparagraph (a)(i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) or from service referred to in subparagraph (iii),

(iii) as a member of an allied manning pool, served in a theatre of actual war, or

(iv) was a distressed mariner; or

(e) any person who

(i) is in receipt of a pension,

(ii) has accepted a commuted pension, or

(iii) is declared to have been eligible for, or is awarded, a pension subsequent to the person's death

for an injury or disease incurred or aggravated during service as a Canadian merchant mariner of World War I or Canadian merchant mariner of World War II within the meaning of section 21.1 of the Pension Act.

(a) any person who, at any time during the period from June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953, served on board a Canadian ship in any of the waters, including gulfs, bays and inlets, lying between

(i) the coasts of Siberia, Korea and China

and

(ii) a line beginning at a point on the coast of Siberia at longitude 135o East; thence south to a point at latitude 38o 30' North and longitude 135o East; thence southwesterly to a point at latitude 30o North and longitude 124o East; thence south to Shokoto Sho; thence westerly to Shichisei Seki; and thence westerly to a point on the coast of China at latitude 23o North; or

(b) any person who

(i) is in receipt of a pension,

(ii) has accepted a commuted pension, or