An Act to amend and consolidate the Acts relating to the office of Port Warden for the Harbour of Montreal (S.C. 1882, c. 45)

Marginal note:No clearance without certificate of Port Warden or his deputy

17 No officer of customs shall grant a clearance to any vessel for the purpose of enabling her to leave the Port of Montreal for any port not within the limits of inland navigation, unless not until the master of such vessel produces to him a certificate from the Port Warden or his Deputy, to the effect that all the requirements of this Act have been fully complied with; and if any vessel attempts to leave the Port of Montreal without a certificate of clearance, for any port not within the limits of inland navigation, any officer of customs, or any person acting under the direction of the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, or the chief officer of the river police, may detain such vessel until such certificate is produced to him.

Marginal note:Estimate of value of vessel

18 The Port Warden shall, when required, estimate the value of any vessel, being at the time in the harbour of Montreal, when the same is in dispute or otherwise needed, and shall record the same in the books of his office.

Marginal note:Auctioneer selling condemned vessels, &c., to notify Port Warden; Proviso: as to goods liable to deterioration

19 It shall be the duty of every auctioneer making a sale of any vessel condemned, or ships’ materials, or goods damaged on board a ship or vessel, whether sea-going or of inland navigation, for the benefit of underwriters or others concerned, in the City of Montreal, to file an account of such sale at the office of the Port Warden within ten days after such sale: no sale for account of underwriters shall take place until after at least two days’ public advertisement, in not less than two English and one French newspapers, in the City of Montreal, except in such special cases as hereinafter provided for, and such sale shall not be at an hour earlier than eleven, nor later than three o’clock in the day; but, if the goods or effects to be sold are in such a condition as to be subject to rapid deterioration from delay, the Port Warden, upon the application of an interested party, may make an order for a sale thereof, after such notice and delay as he may deem for the interest of all concerned, — duly recording such application, and his order thereon, in the books of his office.

Marginal note:Survey before sale

20 No goods, vessels or property, alleged to be damaged on the voyage to the said port, shall be sold as damaged for account of underwriters unless a regular survey and condemnation has previously been had; and the Port Warden shall, in all such cases, be one of the surveyors.

Marginal note:Arbitration between master and consignee; Award and record

21 If required by all parties interested, in a memorandum in writing signed by them, the Port Warden shall hear, arbitrate upon, and determine any matter in dispute between the master or consignee of any vessel or ship, and any proprietor, shipper or consignee, of any part of the cargo thereof, — and for that purpose shall have the power of hearing the parties and their witnesses upon oath, and of administering such oath; and his award in the premises shall be final: and he shall enter a note of the reference to him, and his award thereon in full in the books of his office.

Marginal note:Power to initiate proceedings

22 If the consignee of a vessel or cargo cannot be found or communicated with, the Port Warden may, in any case in which he thinks it right and necessary so to do, initiate proceedings and hold surveys, and obtain process, as if required by the parties concerned, under the provisions of this Act.

Marginal note:Notices to Port Warden and to parties concerned; Subject to by-laws

23 All notices, requests or requirements, to or from the Port Warden, must be given in writing in an intelligible form, and signed by the party making the same, or by some one duly authorized on his behalf, and be delivered within a reasonable time before action is required: and before proceeding to act in the performance of any duty imposed upon him by this Act, the Port Warden shall ascertain that notice thereof has been given to the parties interested, and if not, shall himself cause reasonable notice thereof to be given to them: and the nature and extent of the notice required in all cases coming under the jurisdiction of the Port Warden may be, from time to time, regulated by the by-laws, rules and regulations made as hereinbefore provided.

Marginal note:Port Warden to furnish extracts from his books, &c.; How certified and effect as evidence; Port Warden exempted from attending as witness except in Montreal, during navigation season

24 The Port Warden shall, on the application of any person interested, and on payment of the proper fee, furnish to such person extracts from the books of his office certified by him to be correct extracts, and sealed with the seal of his said office, respecting any matter recorded therein, and also certified copies of any original documents filed in his office, — which certified copies shall be primâ facie evidence of the contents and execution of the originals thereof: and all such extracts so certified under the hand of the Port Warden or his deputy, and under the seal of his office, purporting to contain copies of entries recorded in his books, shall be received primâ facie evidence of the existence and contents of such entries, in any court in the Dominion. And the said Port Warden shall not be required during the season of open navigation to leave the Port of Montreal to give evidence before any court, nor for any other purpose whatever, except with the consent of the Council of the Board of Trade; and in case of his evidence being required before any court in the City of Montreal, he shall be entitled to a fee for each and every attendance at such court, — nor shall he be required on any one day to absent himself from his office for more than three hours.

Marginal note:To supply copies of regulations

25 The Port Warden shall, on application, supply once in each year, to every master of a vessel arriving in the Port of Montreal, a copy of the by-laws, rules and regulations relating to the office of Port Warden.

Marginal note:As to application of rules of Lloyd’s

26 The by-laws, rules and regulations respecting the office of Port Warden shall declare to what extent the regulations of Lloyds shall be applicable to the Harbour of Montreal, and to what extent the Port Warden and his Deputies shall be governed by such regulations.

Marginal note:Appeals from decisions of Port Warden; Proceedings; Costs

27 If any person interested is dissatisfied with any decision of the Port Warden (except in cases of arbitration), such party may appeal to the Board of Trade, by addressing and delivering to the Secretary of the Board of Trade a statement in writing of the matter complained of; and thereupon it shall be the duty of such secretary forthwith to summon a meeting of the said Board of Examiners, who, or not less than three of them, shall immediately investigate the matter complained of, and, after hearing the parties, their determination, or that of a majority of them, made in writing, shall be final and conclusive. The party against whom the examiners shall decide shall pay all the expenses of such appeal, and the examiners shall determine the amount thereof.

Marginal note:Fees or charges

• 28 (1) The Council of the Board of Trade at the City of Montreal may fix the fees or charges, or the manner of determining the fees or charges, to be paid to the Port Warden for or in respect of any services performed by the Port Warden or any Deputy Port Warden.

• Marginal note:Notice of proposed fees or charges

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), the Council shall cause notice of any fees, charges or manner that it proposes to fix pursuant to subsection (1) to be published at least thirty days before the proposed effective date thereof in the Canada Gazette and in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the City of Montreal and shall specify in the notice the place to which and the time within which representations may be sent with respect to the proposed fees, charges or manner.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (3) No notice is required to be published pursuant to subsection (2) with respect to any fees, charges or manner if notice with respect thereto was previously published pursuant to that subsection, whether or not the fees, charges or manner were amended after the publication as a result of representations made pursuant to the notice.

• Marginal note:Notice of fees or charges

  (4) The Council shall cause notice of any fees, charges or manner that it fixes pursuant to subsection (1) to be published in the Canada Gazette and in one or more newspapers of general circulation in the City of Montreal.

• Marginal note:Payment

  (5) The fees or charges for or in respect of any services performed by the Port Warden or any Deputy Port Warden are payable at the time the services are performed and by the master, or the owner or representative of the owner, of the vessel in respect of which the services are performed.

Marginal note:Remuneration of Port Wardens and deputies and office expenses to be fixed by Board of Trade and paid out of receipts; Security to be given by Port Warden and deputies

29 The Council of the Board of Trade shall fix the remuneration of the Port Warden and that of his Deputies, and his expenses of office or otherwise, out of the receipts of his office, as it may, from time to time, determine; and for any period during which the Port Warden may be paid by salary, the balance, if any, which may appear by his certified annual return to be in his hands, over and above his salary, that of his Deputies and his expenses of office, shall be forthwith paid by the said Port Warden to such person as the Council of the Board of Trade shall depute to receive the same; and the said Port Warden and his Deputies, when required so to do, shall furnish such securities for the faithful performance of the duties of their respective offices as the Council of the said Board of Trade shall deem adequate.

Marginal note:Penalties for contravention of Act

30 The penalty for every infringement or breach, on the part of a master or owner of a vessel, of the fourteenth section of this Act, shall be eight hundred dollars; and for every infringement or breach of the twentieth section thereof, shall be twenty dollars:

• How to be recovered and applied; Further liability of offender

  2 Every such penalty as aforesaid shall be recoverable in the manner prescribed by “The Interpretation Act” in cases where penalties are imposed, and the recovery not otherwise provided for: and the whole of any pecuniary penalty imposed by and collected under this Act shall belong to the Crown, and shall be paid over to the Receiver-General, on receipt of the same, by the Council of the Board of Trade, and shall be appropriated in such manner as the Governor in Council may direct; but payment of such penalties shall not, in any way, diminish the liability of any ship, shipmaster or other person, for the consequences of any thing done by him or his representatives in contravention of this Act.

Marginal note:Yearly report to Minister of Marine and Fisheries; He may require further information

31 The Council of the Board of Trade shall yearly, within seven days after the first day of January, transmit to the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, a report of the business done in the office of the Port Warden, and of his receipts and expenditure in respect thereof, and of all moneys which may have been received from time to time by the Board, as arising from fees of office, and then in the hands of the said Board, showing also how such moneys are invested, in such manner and form as the Minister may direct; and for that purpose shall have power from time to time to call upon the Port Warden to make up and furnish to the said Council, such returns, accounts and information as the said Council may require.

Marginal note:Application of proceeds of rates and fees, for the purposes of this Act only; Duty of Board in case of excess

32 The proceeds of the fees and rates collected under this Act, shall be applied by the said Board of Trade solely to the purposes mentioned in the twenty-ninth section of this Act, and other purposes necessary and incident to the efficient working of this Act, as shall also any money now or hereafter in the hands of the said Board, arising from rates and fees under this Act, or the Acts repealed by it, or any interest on such moneys; and if at any time it should become apparent that the proceeds of the rates and fees herein mentioned, with the interest on any such moneys as aforesaid in the hands of the Board, are and probably will be more than sufficient for the purposes aforesaid, it shall be the duty of the said Board to reduce any or all of the said rates and fees accordingly, and again to increase them or any of them, with the sanction of the Governor in Council, if they become insufficient for the said purposes.

33 [Repealed, 1991, c. 32, s. 10]