Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure to speak to members about Bill S-4, an act to amend the Canada Shipping Act (maritime liability) for this third reading debate.
Before I talk about the bill I have been asked by the Minister of Transport to acknowledge the critical role that has been played by the members of the House, the senators and the standing committees who have undertaken a thorough examination of this legislation.
I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to thank members from the other side of the House for their support. We see in Bill S-4 a good example of our ability to work together for the benefit of Canadians.
This legislation was first introduced by the former minister of transport as Bill C-58 in the last Parliament. At that time the House Standing Committee on Transport held hearings where industry groups expressed their general support for Bill C-58. Their concerns have been addressed by the standing committee. The amendments proposed to the legislation have since been included in this bill, Bill S-4.
I would also like to thank the senators and particularly the members of the Senate standing committee on transport and communications for their work on the bill. Of course the bill is a Senate bill.
They adopted an amendment to the legislation to remove from the bill a proposed modification to the definition of pollutant which raised concerns among industry representatives who appeared before the committee on transport and communications. This amendment to Bill S-4 will allow more time for discussion between the government and the industry on the definition of pollutant and whether it should be modified in the future.
The changes to the Canada Shipping Act which I will outline would not have been possible without the dedicated efforts of government officials, in particular those from Transport Canada and the Department of Justice. Throughout the process of this legislation, officials from the Department of Transport have spoken at length with the industry, including the shipowners, passengers, cargo owners, the oil industry, marine insurers and the marine legal community. I take this opportunity to thank these industry groups for their participation in this reform and for their contribution toward and support for the new legislation.
I am thoroughly convinced and I am sure every member of the House will agree that this new legislation represents an important step toward modernizing Canadian maritime liability regimes. It will improve considerably the amount of compensation available to claimants for maritime claims in general and for oil pollution damage in particular.
The proposed legislation consists of two sets of amendments. There are those relating to limitation of liability for maritime claims in part IX of the Canada Shipping Act, and those relating to liability of compensation for oil pollution damage in part XVI of the same act. In both cases the amendments will provide for the implementation of international conventions on maritime liability and therefore will harmonize Canadian maritime liability legislation with the legislation in other major maritime nations.
The key policy objective in respect of global limitation of liability is to achieve an equitable balance between the interests of the shipowners on the one hand and of potential claimants on the other. Our current legislation concerning limitation of liability for maritime claims contained in part IX of the Canada Shipping Act is based on an international convention adopted in 1957. One can easily imagine that the limits of liability set out in that convention and by this very fact in our existing legislation are very low.
For example, the current limits of liability for ships below 300 tonnes, which includes most pleasure vessels, is approximately $140,000. We can appreciate that this limit is totally inadequate. I can assure the House that this feature does not help either the claimants or the shipowners. The new limits for ships below 300 tonnes has been set at $1.5 million which is more in line with the liability levels long established in the automobile sector.
For ships over 300 tonnes, the new limits of liability are based on the 1976 Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims and its protocol adopted in 1996. The 1996 protocol to the convention contains a new procedure for future amendments of limits of liability which responds to concerns that the method of revision of the limits was too cumbersome and too costly. It will now be easier to amend the limits in the international convention.
The spirit of this innovative provision has been incorporated into Bill S-4 to ensure that the limits of liability in the Canada Shipping Act keep their value over the years to come. It will now be feasible to increase the limits in the Canada Shipping Act by order in council to keep up to date with any increases in the limits adopted under the 1996 protocol in the future.
As members probably know, the Minister of Transport signed on behalf of Canada the 1996 protocol last September. This protocol is a major step toward the modernization of international maritime law and we can be proud to be at the forefront of this international initiative. We will be in a position to formerly ratify this important treaty when Bill S-4 is passed.
Let me turn to the second issue contained in Bill S-4, the revision of the existing regime of liability and compensation for oil pollution damage. This regime was last revised in 1989 when Canada implemented and acceded to the 1969 international convention on civil liability for oil pollution damage and the 1971 international fund convention.
The 1969 convention established the liability of owners of laden tankers for oil pollution damage, while the 1971 fund convention provided complementary compensation to the extent the protection under the 1969 convention was in adequate.
In addition to participating in the international oil pollution compensation fund, Canada has its own domestic compensation fund called the ship source oil pollution fund. This is a fund of first resort for all claimants for oil pollution damage in Canada and in waters under Canadian jurisdiction. Canadian contributions to the international fund are paid from the ship source oil pollution fund.
Bill S-4 will implement the provisions of the 1992 protocols to the 1969 and 1971 conventions.
Under the 1992 protocols the amount of compensation available for pollution damage caused by oil tankers was increased from $122 million per incident to approximately $270 million per incident.
The 1992 protocols also bring a number of important changes including a provision to make it clear that shipowners are liable for the costs of reasonable measures of reinstatement where oil pollution damage from a ship results in the impairment of the environment.
The proposed legislation will enable Canada to follow many other countries which have terminated their membership in the 1971 regime and moved to the 1992 regime. If we do not take the same action as others we will continue to be one of the major members still under the old regime. While not entitled to any improved compensation, Canada would also then be exposed to higher contributions to the international fund due to the reduced membership of nations under the old regime.
With the passage of Bill S-4 Canada will now be in the position to accede to the 1992 protocols.
I urge all my colleagues to join us on the government side and lend their support in order to pass this bill so that it can receive royal assent as soon as possible.