This is the beginning of the liability section of the bill. Essentially, this section sets out that the polluter pays. Those who are at fault or are negligent for a release, an unintended release, would be responsible for actual loss and economic loss, if you will, the costs and expenses reasonably incurred by Her Majesty and by the province and the aboriginal governing body, which was the amendment. The inclusion of the new amendment would extend that to municipalities, and then there's loss of non-use value. This would be the avenue by which a claimant would pursue a loss or damages—in this case, expenses—and a court would determine the applicability of those things.
I don't believe, in my understanding—and again, it's a policy understanding as opposed to a legal understanding, so my deficiencies are here before you—that it would preclude a province from recognizing this, as I think was the case with Lac-Mégantic, where the province and the federal government worked together to establish how to deal with the impacts and costs associated with not only the cleanup but also those things that were going on. Then, of course, there were civil and other aspects that were pursued. I don't believe that, as proposed, without “municipality“ it precludes.... I'm not certain about adding it and what that might mean in the broader context.
This is the broadest aspect of the liability aspect, and then it kind of narrows in the different sub-provisions that follow and spells out other specific details, whether they're absolute liability or whether there are any limitations to that liability.