Yes, Mr. Chair. Thank you. I will certainly endeavour to be quite brief, and I think I can be brief and not sacrifice content.
The next point on the deck deals with what is referred to as a general limitation period. This is a common feature found in most statutes prescribing a time beyond which a claim cannot be brought before a court.
There is such a provision in the Federal Courts Act and there are provisions in the Marine Liability Act scattered here and there dealing with general limitation on specific subjects, particularly relating to the various treaties and conventions that are annexed to the Marine Liability Act. But there is no general provision to address a claim brought in any court that has admiralty and maritime jurisdiction in Canada--for the sake of argument, the superior courts of the provinces. To that end, a new general limitation period, none hitherto existing, is being proposed--as you see in the deck--providing a three-year limitation period for a claimant to bring his or her claim to the courts pursuant to the act.
In addition, there is on page 11 of your deck an amendment that is purely technical to the Federal Courts Act, which seeks to in effect align the English and the French text of a particular provision. The maritime bar and the industry has complained over the years that for 15-odd years a particular provision, namely section 43, reads differently in both versions. We thought this was an excellent opportunity to also amend the Federal Courts Act, and we are using this opportunity to do so.
Mr. Chair, committee members, the last amendment is one that can be found in most bills, i.e., transitional or consequential measures intended to ensure that the references to this act in other pieces of legislation are consistent. Those are the three legal amendments that have been brought to this bill.
Thank you.