Duncan W. Shaw

The respondent dumped woodwaste in provincial marine waters during logging operations and was charged under section 4(1) of the Ocean Dumping Control Act, which prohibits dumping at sea without a permit.

The lower courts held the provision ultra vires Parliament.

The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal, holding that the control of marine pollution by dumping is a single, indivisible matter of national concern that falls within the federal peace, order and good government power.

The appellant ship appealed a decision of the Federal Court of Appeal which allowed an action in rem to enforce a maritime lien for necessaries arising under foreign law.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, agreeing entirely with the reasons of the Federal Court of Appeal that the lien was enforceable in Canada even though the owner of the vessel was not liable in personam.

The appellant was charged under s. 33(3) of the Fisheries Act for depositing logging debris into a stream that flowed into fish-bearing waters.

The trial judge acquitted the appellant, finding the subsection ultra vires the federal Parliament.

The County Court and Court of Appeal upheld the legislation as valid under the federal power over sea coast and inland fisheries.

The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal, holding that s. 33(3) is a blanket prohibition of activities subject to provincial jurisdiction without linking the proscribed conduct to actual or potential harm to fisheries.

Therefore, it is not necessarily incidental to effective fishery legislation and is ultra vires.