278. The Governor in Council may make regulations to carry into effect any scheme proposed by the government of any part of the Commonwealth relating to

(a) the relief and repatriation of seamen;

(b) the payment of the expenses of medical attendance, maintenance, burial and repatriation in cases of injury or illness of seamen;

(c) the dealing with effects of deceased seamen and with wages of seamen left behind by ships; and

(d) the recovery of any expenses in connection with the matters described in paragraphs (a) to (c).

R.S., c. S-9, s. 277.

279. (1) Where a seaman belonging to any Canadian ship is left behind outside Canada, the master of the ship shall, subject to this section,

(a) as soon as may be, enter in the official log-book of the ship a statement of the effects left on board by the seaman and of the amount due to the seaman on account of wages at the time when he was left behind; and

(b) on the termination of the voyage during which the seaman was left behind, furnish to the proper officer, within forty-eight hours after the arrival of the ship at the port at which the voyage terminates, accounts in a form approved by the Minister, one, in this section referred to as the “delivery account”, of the effects and wages of the seaman, and the other, in this section referred to as the “reimbursement account”, of any expenses caused to the master or owner of the ship by the absence of the seaman in cases where the absence is due to desertion, neglect to join his ship or any other conduct constituting an offence under section 242, and the master shall, if required by the proper officer, furnish such vouchers as may be reasonably required to verify the accounts.

(2) The master of the ship shall deliver to the proper officer, if he will receive them, the effects of the seaman as shown in the delivery account, and subject to any deductions allowed under this section, the amount due on account of wages as shown in that account, and the officer shall give to the master a receipt, in a form approved by the Minister, for any effects or amount so delivered.

(3) The master of the ship is entitled to be reimbursed out of the wages or effects of the seaman any sums shown in the reimbursement account that appear to the proper officer or, in case of an appeal under this section, to a court of summary jurisdiction to be properly chargeable, and for that purpose the officer, or, if necessary, in the case of an appeal, the Minister, shall allow those sums to be deducted from the amount due on account of wages shown in the delivery account, and, in so far as that amount is not sufficient, to be repaid to the master out of the effects of the seaman.

(4) The proper officer, before allowing any sums to be deducted or repaid under subsection (3), may require such evidence as he thinks fit respecting the sums being properly chargeable to be given by the master of the ship either by statutory declaration or otherwise.

(5) Where the master of the ship is aggrieved by the decision of the proper officer respecting the sums to be allowed as properly chargeable on his reimbursement account, and the amount in dispute exceeds fifty dollars, he may appeal from the decision of the proper officer to a court of summary jurisdiction.

(6) Where during the voyage of a ship two or more seamen have been left behind, the delivery and reimbursement accounts furnished with respect to each seaman may at the option of the master of the ship be dealt with, as between him and the proper officer, collectively instead of individually, and in that case the master of the ship is entitled to be reimbursed out of the total amount of the wages and effects of the seamen left behind the total of the amounts allowed under this section as properly chargeable on the reimbursement accounts, and shall be required to deliver to the proper officer on account of wages only the sum by which the total of the amounts shown on the delivery accounts to be due on account of wages exceeds the total of the amounts allowed as properly chargeable on the reimbursement accounts.

(7) The proper officer shall, subject to any repayment made under this section, remit the effects, and any amount received by him on account of wages under this section, at such time and in such manner as the Minister requires, and shall render such accounts in respect thereof as the Minister directs.

(8) In this section, the expression “effects” includes the proceeds of any sale of the effects if those effects are sold under this section.

(9) The effects of a seaman shall be sold by the proper officer in such manner as he thinks fit when they are delivered to him, unless the Minister directs to the contrary, and, if not so sold, shall be sold by the Minister as and when he thinks fit unless they are delivered to the seaman.

(10) The master of the ship is under no liability for any loss of effects or for any damage to the effects if he proves to the proper officer that the loss or damage occurred without his neglect or privity after the seaman left the ship.

(11) Subject to subsection (12), the Minister is not liable for anything done under this section.

(12) If, after the wages or effects of a seaman have been dealt with under this section, any legal proceedings are taken in respect of those wages or effects, or involving the forfeiture of those wages or effects, or of any sum out of the wages, by the seaman against the master or owner of the ship, or by the master or owner of the ship against the seaman, the Minister shall, if notice is given to him of the proceedings, and a reasonable opportunity afforded him of appearing, comply with any order of the court made with respect to the wages or effects, in so far as

(a) he can do so out of the wages and effects remitted to him, in respect of the voyage of the ship; and

(b) those wages and effects are not required for reimbursing any expenses incurred by or on behalf of the Crown, or incurred by the government of a foreign country and repaid to that government by or on behalf of the Crown, as expenses of a distressed seaman on behalf of the seaman.

(13) The Minister is entitled to appear and be heard in any proceedings described in subsection (12) by any of his officers.

(14) The Minister may, if and in so far as he thinks fit, meet any claim made by a seaman against the master or owner of the ship in respect of any wages or effects dealt with under this section, although legal proceedings are not actually taken in respect thereof, if he has given notice to the master or owner of the ship, and the master or owner has not given written notice of objection within ten days of the notice being given.

(15) For the purpose of subsections (12) to (14), any legal proceedings taken or any claim made by a person in whose favour an allotment note has been made shall be treated as proceedings taken or a claim made by the seaman.

(16) Any sums remitted under this section, or arising from the sale of effects under this section, shall be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund, and any sums payable by the Minister under this section shall be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament for that purpose.

(17) If the master of a ship fails without reasonable cause to comply with this section, he is, without prejudice to any other liability, guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, and, if he delivers a false account or makes a false statement or representation for the purposes of this section, he is guilty of an indictable offence.

(18) This section does not apply in the case of an absent seaman,

(a) where the master of the ship satisfies the proper officer that none of the effects of the seaman have to his knowledge been left on board the ship, and that he has paid all wages due to the seaman;

(b) where the amount of wages earned by the seaman, after taking into account any deductions made in respect of allotments or advances for which provision is made by the agreement with the crew, appears from the agreement to be less than twenty-five dollars, and the master of the ship does not exercise his option to deal with the delivery and reimbursement accounts collectively;

(c) where the master of the ship satisfies the proper officer that the net amount due to the seaman on account of wages, after taking into account any deductions lawfully made in respect of allotments, advances or otherwise, is less than twenty dollars, and the master does not exercise his option to deal with the delivery and reimbursement accounts collectively; or

(d) where the question of the forfeiture of the wages and effects of the seaman has been dealt with in legal proceedings lawfully instituted before the termination of the voyage, or within forty-eight hours of the arrival of the ship at the port at which the voyage terminates.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 278.

280. (1) The master of a Canadian ship shall not discharge a seaman at any place outside Canada, except at a port in the country in which he was shipped, unless he previously obtains, endorsed on the agreement with the crew, the sanction of the proper authority, but that sanction shall not be refused where the seaman is discharged on the termination of his service.

(2) The authority to whom an application is made for sanction under this section may, and, if not a merchant, shall, examine into the grounds on which a seaman is to be discharged at a place outside Canada, and for that purpose may, if he thinks fit, administer oaths, and may grant or refuse the sanction as he thinks just, but that sanction shall not be unreasonably withheld.

(3) If the master of a ship fails to comply with this section, he is guilty of an indictable offence, and in any legal proceeding for the offence the onus lies on the master to prove that the sanction was obtained or could not be obtained or was unreasonably withheld.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 279.

281. Where the master of a Canadian ship discharges a seaman at any place outside Canada, he shall give that seaman a certificate of discharge in a form approved by the Minister and, in the case of any certificated officer whose certificate he has retained, shall return that certificate to him.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 280.

282. (1) Where the service of a seaman belonging to a Canadian ship terminates at a port outside Canada otherwise than by the consent of the seaman to be discharged during the currency of the agreement, the master of the ship shall, besides giving the seaman the certificate of discharge required under this Part and paying the wages to which the seaman is entitled, make adequate provision in accordance with this Act for his maintenance and for his return to a proper return port, and shall request the proper authority to endorse on the agreement with the crew of the ship that the seaman is leaving the particulars of any provision so made.

(2) If the master fails, without reasonable cause, to comply with this section, the expenses of maintenance and of the journey to the proper return port,

(a) if defrayed by the seaman, are recoverable as wages due to him; and

(b) if defrayed by the proper authority or by any other person, unless the seaman has been guilty of barratry, are a charge on the ship to which the seaman belonged, and may also be recovered against the person who is the owner of the ship for the time being, or, where the ship has been lost, against the person who was the owner of the ship at the time of the loss, or, where the ship has been transferred to a person not being a British subject, either against the owner for the time being or against the person who was the owner of the ship at the time of the transfer, at the suit of the proper authority or other person defraying the expenses, or, where they have been allowed to the authority or person out of public money, as a debt to the Crown, either by ordinary process of law or in the court and in the manner in which wages may be recovered by seamen.

(3) [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 31]

R.S., 1985, c. S-9, s. 282; R.S., 1985, c. 6 (3rd Supp.), s. 31.

283. (1) Where a Canadian ship is transferred or disposed of at any port outside Canada, any seaman belonging to that ship shall be discharged unless the seaman consents in writing in the presence of the proper authority to complete the voyage of the ship if continued.

(2) Where a seaman is discharged pursuant to subsection (1), the provisions of this Part respecting the certificate of discharge, and the return of the seaman to a proper return port, apply as if the service of the seaman had terminated otherwise than by the consent of the seaman to be discharged during the currency of the agreement, and apply to foreign seamen whether they have been shipped at a port in Canada or not.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 282.

284. (1) Where the master of, or a seaman belonging to, a Canadian ship receives any hurt or injury in the service of the ship, or suffers from any illness, not being an illness due to his own wilful act or default or to his own misbehaviour, the expense of providing the necessary surgical and medical advice and attendance and medicine, the expenses of the maintenance of the master or seaman until he is cured, dies or is returned to a proper return port, and of his conveyance to the port, and in the case of death the expense, if any, of his burial, shall be defrayed by the owner of the ship, without any deduction on that account from his wages.

(2) Where the master or a seaman is on account of any illness temporarily removed from his ship for the purpose of preventing infection, or otherwise for the convenience of the ship, and subsequently returns to his duty, the expense of the removal and of providing the necessary advice, attendance and medicine, and of his maintenance while away from the ship, shall be defrayed in the manner described in subsection (1).

(3) The expense of all medicines, surgical and medical advice, and attendance, given to a master or seaman while on board his ship shall be defrayed in the manner described in subsection (1).

(4) In all other cases, any reasonable expenses duly incurred by the owner for any seaman in respect of illness, and also any reasonable expenses duly incurred by the owner in respect of the burial of any seaman who dies while on service, shall, if duly proved, be deducted from the wages of the seaman.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 283.

285. The owner of every ship that is not a Canadian ship is liable for the cost of all medical and surgical treatment and hospital care provided in Canada to a person employed by him on that ship.

R.S., c. 38(1st Supp.), s. 1.

286. (1) Where any of the expenses attendant on the illness, hurt or injury of a seaman that are to be paid under this Act by the master or owner are paid by any authority on behalf of the Crown, or if any other expenses in respect of the illness, hurt or injury of any seaman whose wages are not accounted for under this Act to that authority are so paid, those expenses shall be repaid to the authority by the master or owner of the ship.

(2) Where the expenses described in subsection (1) are not repaid, the amount thereof is, with costs, a charge on the ship, and is recoverable as a debt to the Crown, either by ordinary process of law or in the court and in the manner in which wages may be recovered by seaman from the master or owner of the ship for the time being or, where the ship has been lost, from the person who was the owner of the ship at the time of the loss, or, where the ship has been transferred to a person not being a British subject, either from the owner for the time being or from the person who was the owner of the ship at the time of the transfer.

(3) In any proceeding for recovery of expenses under subsection (2), a certificate of the facts, signed by the authority referred to in subsection (1), together with such vouchers, if any, as the case requires, is sufficient proof that the expenses were duly paid by that authority.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 284.

287. (1) The master of a Canadian ship shall not leave a seaman behind at any place outside Canada, ashore or at sea, except where the seaman is discharged in accordance with this Act, unless the master previously obtains, endorsed on the agreement with the crew, the certificate of the proper authority stating the cause of the seaman being left behind, whether the cause is unfitness or inability to proceed to sea, desertion, disappearance or otherwise.

(2) The authority to whom an application is made for a certificate under this section may examine into the grounds on which a seaman is to be left behind, and for that purpose may, if he thinks fit, administer oaths, and may grant or refuse the certificate as he thinks just, but the certificate shall not be unreasonably withheld.

(3) If the master of a ship fails to comply with this section, he is, without prejudice to his liability under any other provision of this Act, guilty of an offence, and in any legal proceeding for the offence the onus lies on the master to prove that the certificate was obtained or could not be obtained without unreasonable delay to the ship or was unreasonably withheld.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 285.

288. (1) Where a master of a Canadian ship leaves a seaman behind on shore in any place outside Canada on the ground of his unfitness or inability to proceed to sea, he shall deliver to the person signing the required certificate of the proper authority a full and true account of the wages due to the seaman and, if that person is a consular officer, shall deliver the account in duplicate.

(2) If a master fails, without reasonable cause, to deliver the account described in subsection (1), he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars, and, if he knowingly delivers a false account, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, in addition in each case to the payment of the wages.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 286.

289. (1) The master shall pay the amount of wages due to a seaman left behind on the ground of his unfitness or inability to proceed to sea, if he is left in any Commonwealth country, to the seaman himself, and if he is left elsewhere, to the consular officer, if the consular officer will receive the payment.

(2) Where payment is so made to a consular officer, that officer shall retain one duplicate of the account delivered to him and, if satisfied with the account, endorse on the other duplicate a receipt for the payment, and return it to the master, who shall deliver the duplicate within forty-eight hours of his return to his port of destination to the proper authority.

(3) The payment shall be made, whenever it is practicable, in money, and, when not so practicable, by bills drawn on the owner of the ship, but if payment is made by bill

(a) the person signing the required certificate of the proper authority shall certify by endorsement on the bill that the bill is drawn for seamen’s wages, and shall also endorse on the agreement with the crew the amount for which the bill is drawn, and such further particulars as the Minister requires; and

(b) if the bill is drawn by the master, the owner of the ship is liable to pay the amount to the holder or endorsee thereof, and it is not necessary in any proceeding against the owner on the bill to prove that the master had authority to draw it.

(4) A bill purporting to be drawn and endorsed under this section is, if produced out of the custody of the Minister, or of any shipping master, admissible in evidence, and any endorsement on any such bill purporting to be made in pursuance of this section is also admissible as evidence of the facts stated in the endorsement.

(5) If a master fails, without reasonable cause, to make a payment of wages as provided by this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable, in addition to the payment of the wages, to a fine not exceeding fifty dollars.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 287.

290. Where the amount of wages due to a seaman left behind on the ground of his unfitness or inability to proceed to sea is paid to and accepted by a consular officer, that officer shall accept on condition that he deal with the sum paid to him in the following manner:

(a) if the seaman subsequently obtains employment at or quits the port at which the payment has been made, he shall deduct out of the sum any expenses incurred by him in respect of the maintenance of the seaman under this Act, except such expenses as the owner or master is required by this Act to defray, and shall pay the remainder to the seaman and deliver to him an account of the sums so received and expended on his behalf;

(b) if the seaman dies before his ship quits the port, he shall deal with the sum as part of the property of a deceased seaman; and

(c) if the seaman is sent to a proper return port at the public expense under this Act, he shall account for the sum to the Minister, and the sum, after deducting any expenses duly incurred in respect of the seaman, except such expenses as the master or owner is required by this Act to defray, shall be dealt with as wages of the seaman.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 288.

291. (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations with respect to the relief, maintenance and return to a proper return port of shipwrecked or otherwise distressed Canadian seamen found at any place outside Canada, and may, by those regulations, in this Act referred to as the “distressed seamen regulations”, make such conditions as he thinks fit with regard to that relief, maintenance and return to a proper return port, and a seaman has no right to be relieved, maintained or returned to a proper return port, except in the cases and to the extent and on the conditions provided by those regulations.

(2) When a seaman is repatriated as member of a crew, he is entitled to remuneration for work done during the voyage.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 289.

292. (1) Where any seamen, whether subjects of Her Majesty or not, who have been resident in Canada for at least twelve months before the commencement of the voyage or engagement on which they are at the time employed, are found in any place outside Canada, and have been shipwrecked from any ship or by reason of having been discharged or left behind from any ship in any place outside Canada, are in distress in that place, the proper authority may, in accordance with and on the conditions prescribed by the distressed seamen regulations,

(a) provide in accordance with this Act for the return of those seamen, who are in this Act included in the term “distressed seamen”, at the expense of the Government of Canada, to a proper return port;

(b) provide for their necessary clothing and maintenance until their departure for a proper return port;

(c) in case of death, provide for burial expenses; and

(d) in the case of shipwrecked seamen, provide for the repayment of any expenses incurred in their conveyance to port after their shipwreck, and their maintenance while being so conveyed.

(2) Where any seamen are found in any place in Canada as a result of being shipwrecked from a Canadian ship, the owner of the ship shall provide for their necessary clothing and maintenance in that place and shall pay the expenses of returning those seamen to the port where they were engaged.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 290.

293. (1) Where any expenses, other than excepted expenses, are incurred by a proper authority on behalf of the Government of Canada pursuant to section 292, or are incurred by the government of a foreign country and are repaid to the foreign country by the Government of the United Kingdom, the Minister may pay to the proper authority or to the Government of the United Kingdom the amount of those expenses out of any moneys available for the purpose or out of any moneys voted by Parliament for that purpose.

(2) Any or all moneys paid by the Minister pursuant to subsection (1), together with the wages, if any, due to the seaman, are a charge on the ship to which the distressed seaman belonged, and are a debt to the Crown from the master of the ship or from the owner of the ship for the time being, or, where the ship has been lost, from the person who was owner of the ship at the time of the loss, or, where the ship has been transferred to a person who is not a British subject, either from the owner for the time being or from the person who was the owner of the ship at the time of the transfer, and, if the ship is a foreign ship, from the person, whether principal or agent, who engaged the seaman for service in the ship.

(3) The debt, in addition to any fines that may have been incurred, may be recovered by the Minister, on behalf of the Crown, either by ordinary process of law or in the court in the manner in which wages may be recovered by seamen.

(4) In any proceeding for recovery under this section, the production of the account, if any, of the expenses furnished in accordance with this Act or the distressed seamen regulations, and proof of payment of the expenses by or on behalf of the Minister, is evidence that the expenses were incurred or repaid under this Act by or on behalf of the Crown.

(5) For the purpose of this section, excepted expenses are expenses incurred in cases where the certificate of the proper authority obtained on leaving a seaman behind states, or the Minister is otherwise satisfied, that the cause of the seaman being left behind is desertion or disappearance or imprisonment for misconduct, or discharge from his ship by a naval court on the ground of misconduct, and expenses incurred on account of the return to a proper return port of a distressed seaman who has been discharged at the port at which he was shipped, or at some neighbouring port.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 291.

294. A person belonging to a Canadian ship shall not wrongfully force a seaman on shore and leave him behind or otherwise cause a seaman to be wrongfully left behind at any place, either on shore or at sea, in or out of any Commonwealth country, and if he does so he is guilty of an indictable offence.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 292.

295. (1) Every fine imposed on a seaman of a Canadian ship for any act of misconduct for which his agreement imposes a fine shall be deducted as follows:

(a) if the offender is discharged in Canada and the offence, and the entry in the log-book required by this Act thereof, are proved to the satisfaction, in the case of a sea-going ship of the shipping master before whom the offender is discharged, and in the case of a home-trade ship of the shipping master at the port at which the crew are discharged, the master or owner shall deduct the fine from the wages of the offender; and

(b) if the offender is discharged abroad and the offence is proved to the satisfaction of the proper authority by whose sanction he is discharged, the fine shall be deducted in accordance with paragraph (a), and an entry made in the official log-book of the ship and signed by the authority to whose satisfaction the offence is proved.

(2) Every fine deducted pursuant to subsection (1) shall be paid

(a) if the offender is discharged in Canada, to the shipping master; and

(b) if the offender is discharged at any place outside Canada, to the proper authority.

(3) A proper authority shall remit any amounts received by it under this section at such times and in such manner, and render such accounts in respect thereof, as the Minister requires.

(4) If a master or owner fails without reasonable cause to pay any fine as required by this section, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding six times the amount of the fine not so paid.

(5) An act of misconduct for which any fine has been inflicted and paid by, or deducted from the wages of, a seaman shall not be otherwise punished under this Act.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 293.

296. For the purpose of this Part, either the port at which a seaman was shipped or a port in the country to which he belongs, or some other port agreed to by the seaman, in the case of a discharged seaman, at the time of his discharge, shall be deemed to be a proper return port, but in the case of a seaman shipped in Canada the return port shall be in the same province in which he was shipped unless otherwise agreed to by him.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 294.

297. (1) A seaman may be sent to a proper return port by any reasonable route.

(2) Provision shall be made for the return of a seaman to a proper return port if the whole of the route is by sea, or if any part of the route is by sea, by placing the seaman on board a British ship that is in need of men to make up its complement, or, if that is not practicable, by providing the seaman with a passage in any ship, British or foreign, or with the money for his passage, and, if any part of the route is by land, by paying the expenses of his journey and of his maintenance during the journey, or providing him with means to pay those expenses.

(3) Where the master of a ship is required under this Part to provide for the return of a discharged seaman to a proper return port, the master may, instead of providing the seaman’s passage, or the expenses of his journey, or of providing the seaman with means to pay his passage or those expenses, deposit with the proper authority such sum as that authority considers sufficient to defray the expenses of the return of the seaman to a proper return port.

(4) The Minister may, by the distressed seamen regulations, make such provision as may be necessary for enabling the proper authority, and in the case of expenses required to be incurred in Canada any officer named for the purpose by the Minister, to defray on behalf of the authority originally making arrangements for the return of a distressed seaman to a proper return port any expenses on account of that seaman that the authority originally acting in respect of him could defray, and any expenses so incurred shall for the purposes of this Part relating to distressed seamen be deemed to be expenses incurred on behalf of the distressed seaman.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 295.

298. (1) When any question arises as to what return port a seaman is to be sent to in any case, or as to the route by which he should be sent, the question shall be decided by the proper authority.

(2) In deciding any question under this section, the proper authority shall have regard both to the convenience of the seaman and to the expense involved, and also, where it is the case, to the fact that a British ship that is in need of men to make up its complement is about to proceed to a proper return port or to a port in the vicinity thereof.

(3) Nothing in this section relieves the owner from the obligation and expense of returning the seaman to his proper return port.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 296.

299. (1) Where a distressed seaman is, for the purpose of his return to a proper return port, placed on board a Canadian ship, the authority by whom the seaman is so placed shall endorse on the agreement with the crew of the ship the name of the seaman so placed on board, together with any particulars directed to be endorsed by the distressed seamen regulations.

(2) The master of every Canadian ship shall receive on board his ship, and afford a passage and maintenance to, all distressed seamen whom he is required under this Act to take on board his ship, not exceeding one for every fifty tons register tonnage, and shall during the passage provide each distressed seaman with a proper berth or sleeping place, effectually protected against sea and weather.

(3) On the production of a certificate, signed by the authority by whose directions any distressed seaman was received on board, specifying the number and names of the distressed seamen and the time when each of them was received on board, and on a declaration made by the master before a justice of the peace, or any officer authorized to administer an oath, stating the number of days during which each distressed seaman has received maintenance, and stating the full complement of his crew and the actual number of seamen employed on board his ship, and every variation in that number while the distressed seamen received maintenance, the master is entitled to be paid, in respect of the maintenance and passage of every seaman so conveyed, maintained and provided for by him, exceeding the number, if any, wanted to make up the complement of his crew, such daily allowance as the Minister allows.

(4) If any master of a Canadian ship fails without reasonable cause to comply with this section in the case of any distressed seamen, he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars.

R.S., 1985, c. S-9, s. 299; 1998, c. 16, s. 22.

300. (1) The Minister may, whenever he deems it necessary, out of any moneys appropriated by Parliament for the purpose, authorize the payment of such sums as he deems requisite for the temporary relief in Canada, in such manner as he deems advisable, of shipwrecked, destitute or otherwise distressed seamen not otherwise entitled to relief under this Act or under the laws of the country in which their ship is registered.

(2) Any expenses incurred for shipwrecked, destitute or otherwise distressed seamen under this section are a debt due to the Crown from the master, owner or agent of the ship to which the distressed seamen belonged and may be recovered by the Minister on behalf of the Crown in the same manner as expenses incurred outside Canada for distressed seamen of sea-going vessels registered in Canada are recovered.

R.S., c. S-9, s. 298.