Evidence of meeting #18 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was amendment.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9:55 a.m.
Executive Director, Legislative Governance, Department of the Environment
Yes, that's correct.
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
And the majority of those government motions were in fact tabled to deal with those issues prior to the witnesses having testified. Is that correct?
9:55 a.m.
Executive Director, Legislative Governance, Department of the Environment
Yes, that's correct. I believe the only motion is the one about section 280, put forward following the—
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
Thank you.
The next and more difficult issue I want to talk about is the international aspect of this and UNCLOS. I'm going to deal with it in as non-legal way as I can, by talking about the Canada Shipping Act.
On the face of it, does the Canada Shipping Act apply to foreign vessels that would otherwise be subject to international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea?
9:55 a.m.
Manager, Legislative Advice Section, Department of the Environment
Yes, that is our understanding.
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
Does the Canada Shipping Act, like Bill C-16, generally impose liability, including prison terms?
9:55 a.m.
Manager, Legislative Advice Section, Department of the Environment
Yes, it does under the same type of regime.
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
On the face of it, the prison terms in the Canada Shipping Act, if they were applied to a foreign vessel subject to UNCLOS, would contravene UNCLOS. Is that correct?
9:55 a.m.
Manager, Legislative Advice Section, Department of the Environment
That's our understanding. The same provisions of UNCLOS apply.
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
So there's a prosecutorial policy regarding the Canada Shipping Act, saying that the government will not seek prison terms under the Canada Shipping Act. Were it to do so, it would offend UNCLOS. Is that correct?
9:55 a.m.
Manager, Legislative Advice Section, Department of the Environment
That's our understanding. That policy is in place broadly for any federal statute that might have prison terms apply in those zones.
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
When I asked the witnesses the other day whether they were aware if there had been any problems with that policy as it relates to the Canada Shipping Act, they couldn't tell me of any problems. Are you aware of any problems with that policy being applied?
10 a.m.
Manager, Legislative Advice Section, Department of the Environment
We're not, no.
10 a.m.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
Is it proposed that the same prosecutorial policy that has been used and is currently being used for the Canada Shipping Act will also apply to prosecutions under the legislation referred to in Bill C-16?
10 a.m.
Manager, Legislative Advice Section, Department of the Environment
Yes, again, it's government-wide, standard practice.
10 a.m.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
All right. To me, that says this isn't anything new and that it doesn't contravene UNCLOS, or else the Canada Shipping Act would contravene UNCLOS. Am I looking at it the right way?
10 a.m.
Manager, Legislative Advice Section, Department of the Environment
I believe so, yes.
10 a.m.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
The next question I had is whether these policy directives are written down.
10 a.m.
Manager, Legislative Advice Section, Department of the Environment
Our enforcement division folks aren't here, but I am definitely aware there are various enforcement policies and procedural documents, and those currently exist, yes.
10 a.m.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
What I was thinking of specifically regards the application of UNCLOS.
10 a.m.
Manager, Legislative Advice Section, Department of the Environment
I am not aware of whether that is written down, but I could find out.
10 a.m.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
Another issue is that the Canada Shipping Act does not require notification to the Attorney General in a prosecution, does it?
10 a.m.
Liberal
10 a.m.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
It's a line I'm following, but maybe I'll get another chance. I'll skip that for now and I'll stop here. Thank you.
10 a.m.
Liberal
The Vice-Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
We've done one round. Is there a need for a second round? Okay, let's go to a second five-minute round.