Clean Coasts Act
Amends the Canadian Environmental Protection Act to strengthen protections for coastal ecosystems, including new regulations on ocean pollution, plastic waste in marine environments, and requirements for coastal habitat restoration.
Sponsor · Patrick Weiler
If you live near the coast or care about ocean health, this bill would tighten rules on what can be dumped in or near the ocean. It would require restoration plans for damaged coastal areas and stricter controls on marine plastic pollution.
The debate · 6 points
Supporters say
- Abandoned vessels are costly and dangerous. Some owners sell them cheaply to people who cannot maintain them, leaving taxpayers and coastal communities to pay for cleanup.
- Requiring sellers to consider whether a buyer can and intends to care for a vessel would hold owners responsible at the point of sale, closing a gap in the 2019 law.
- Proving pollution liability is hard when intent must be shown. Clarifying that disposal offences are strict liability, while keeping a due diligence defence, would make accountability easier to enforce. This follows a 2015 oil spill in English Bay where the court found no liability.
Critics say
- Sellers cannot realistically judge a buyer's ability or intent. This information is usually not public, and such judgments are subjective. This could lead to disputes, inconsistent decisions and possible unequal treatment of buyers.
- The bill would be hard to enforce. Proving that a seller knew or was reckless about a buyer's future conduct is difficult, and officials from the Coast Guard and Transport Canada raised this concern.
- A signed buyer declaration may give sellers a paper shield without real assurance that the buyer can maintain the vessel. Critics also argue that removing the word "ability" from the amended version weakens the test.
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