I know the individual you're speaking of and we have done significant work to clean up many of his vessels.
The private member's bill is admirable in its intent but it doesn't get to the problem. Other jurisdictions, Washington state notably among them, which has enacted similar legislation, have found that in fact it's had the perverse outcome of allowing ship owners and wreck owners to walk away from the vessels, leaving the liability in this case for the state.
When we do go to clean up an abandoned vessel, and when we know who the owner is, we go after the owner for the funds for the cleanup. If they're unable to pay there is something called the ship-source oil pollution fund in Canada, which is an insurance regime, essentially, and it's part of an international regime. We go to them to be reimbursed for the expenditures dealing with any cleanup.
It is a big problem and we are working now with Transport Canada to look at how we can bring firmer regulations around the issue of wrecks to make owners more responsible.