|
The failure of the parties to deal with ITO and associated cases may also have been caused by an assumption that Canadian maritime law does not encompass tortious liability arising from accidents that occur on a body of water such as Indian Arm, which is within the province of British Columbia, rather than on the high or Canadian seas. Such an assumption would be erroneous, however. This Court made it clear in ITO, at p. 779, that Canadian maritime law was "the maritime law of England as it has been incorporated into Canadian law", and it is in turn clear that the maritime law of England was not limited to torts committed on the British or high seas but extended to torts committed within the ebb and flow of the tide; see De Lovio v. Boit (1815), 2 Gall. 398 (U.S. Circuit Ct., Mass.); Mersey Docks and Harbour Board v. Turner (The "Zeta"), [1893] A.C. 468, at pp. 481 et seq., and Domestic Converters Corp. v. Arctic Steamship Line, [1984] 1 F.C. 211, per Le Dain J. As Indian Arm is presumably a body of water within the ebb and flow of the tide, it follows that the tortious liability of the respondent, if any such liability is found to exist, arises within the territorial domain of Canadian maritime law and the legislative jurisdiction of Parliament.
|