20. An obligation or liability arising by operation of law or in respect of the exercise of, or the failure to exercise, a power or right by a port authority is the obligation or liability of the port authority and not Her Majesty.
21. Notwithstanding any authority given under any other Act, no payment to a port authority may be made under an appropriation by Parliament to enable the port authority to discharge any obligation or liability.
22. No guarantee may be given under the authority of Parliament by or on behalf of Her Majesty for the discharge of any obligation or liability of a port authority.
23. (1) Subject to this Part and any regulations made under subsection (2), the Canada Business Corporations Act applies to port authorities.
(2) The Governor in Council may, by regulation, adapt the Canada Business Corporations Act and any regulations made under that Act, including provisions imposing punishment, in the manner the Governor in Council considers appropriate for the purposes of applying that Act or those regulations to port authorities, or exclude provisions of that Act and those regulations from applying to port authorities.
Capacity and Powers
24. (1) A port authority is incorporated only for the purpose of operating the port in respect of which its letters patent are issued and, for that purpose and for the purposes of this Act, has the powers of a natural person.
(2) The power of a port authority to operate a port is limited to the power to engage in activities within the port related directly to shipping, navigation, the transportation of passengers and goods and the handling and storage of goods.
(3) A port authority shall not carry on any business or exercise any power that it is restricted by its letters patent from carrying on or exercising, nor shall it exercise any of its powers in a manner contrary to its letters patent or this Act.
(4) Except for a use authorized under this Act, a port authority may continue to use any
real property that it manages, holds or occupies for any purpose for which the property was used on June 1, 1996 in the case of a port authority referred to in section 10, or the date of issuance of its letters patent in any other case, but, if the port authority ceases to use it for that purpose at any time, the port authority may not reinstitute the use.
(5) The directors of a port authority shall take all necessary measures to ensure that its wholly-owned subsidiaries carry on only the business and activities and exercise only the powers that the port authority is authorized by its letters patent to carry on or exercise, and that they do not exercise any power in a manner contrary to the letters patent or this Act.
(6) A wholly-owned subsidiary of a port authority may continue to carry on any business or exercise any power that it carried on or exercised before December 1, 1995 but, if the subsidiary ceases to carry on the business or exercise the power at any time, it may not recommence it.
(7) A port authority may not incorporate a wholly-owned subsidiary.
25. (1) Subject to any other Act and to any regulations made under any other Act, a port authority may
(a) construct, purchase, lease, operate and maintain railways on lands it manages, holds or occupies;
(b) enter into agreements with any person for the maintenance of the railways referred to in paragraph (a) and for their operation, in a manner that will provide all railway companies whose lines reach the port with the same facilities for traffic as those enjoyed by that person; and
