Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
CANADIAN MARITIME LAW
Christopher J Giaschi*
CASES
51. Adventure Tours Inc v St John’s Port Authority 1
Judicial review—application to strike—port authority powers
The applicant wrote to the St John’s Port Authority advising that he wished to resume providing a tour boat service and inquiring whether a licence was required. The Authority wrote back advising that they had agreements in place with tour boat operators and were not accepting any further applications. The applicant brought an application for judicial review, arguing that the Authority had no right to require him to obtain a licence. The Authority brought this motion to strike the application.
Decision: The motion to strike was allowed.
Held: The letter from the Authority did not attract rights of judicial review.
Per curiam: The Authority is a federal body exercising a public function and therefore subject to judicial review.
52. Buckley v Buhlman 2
Limitation of liability—pleasure craft—collisions—interest—passengers
Note: This case concerns what are currently ss 28 and 29 of the Marine Liability Act (“MLA”). However, the Reasons for Judgment refer to the section numbers as they existed in 2006. This can be confusing for anyone familiar with the current numbering, because the section numbers have since been transposed. What was s.28 is now s.29 and vice versa. To be consistent with the Reasons and to avoid adding to the confusion, it should be noted that the 2006 section numbers are used in this digest.
The plaintiffs brought this action for limitation of liability under the Marine Liability Act, Part 3. The plaintiffs were the owners of a fishing lodge that offered their guests the use of boats and motors. The defendants were a family of four who were guests at the lodge. During the defendants’ stay at the lodge, they were involved in a collision between two of the plaintiffs’ boats. The first boat was operated by one of the plaintiffs and had two of the defendants as passengers. The second boat was operated by one of the defendants
* President of the Canadian Maritime Law Association; Adjunct Professor of Maritime Law, University of British Columbia; Titulary member, Comité Maritime International; partner, Giaschi & Margolis, Vancouver. Summaries of materials digested here may be found at Admiraltylaw.com, which may be consulted for updates and recent developments.
1. 2012 FC 305.
2. 2012 FCA 9.
INTERNATIONAL MARITIME AND COMMERCIAL LAW YEARBOOK
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