41. (1) A port authority may fix fees to be paid in respect of
(a) ships, vehicles, aircraft and persons coming into or using the port;
(b) goods loaded on ships, unloaded from ships or transhipped by water within the limits of the port or moved across the port; and
(c) any service provided by the port authority, or any right or privilege conferred by it, in respect of the port.
(2) A port authority may fix the interest rate that it charges on overdue fees.
(3) The fees fixed by a port authority shall be at a level that permits it to operate on a self-sustaining financial basis and shall be fair and reasonable.
(4) The fees and interest rate may be made binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province.
(5) The fees fixed under paragraphs (1)(a) and (b) do not apply in respect of a Canadian warship or naval auxiliary ship, a ship of a visiting force within the meaning of the Visiting Forces Act or any other ship while it is under the command of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
(6) A fee that is in force in respect of a port on the coming into force of this section continues in force for a period ending on the earlier of the expiration of six months and the date on which it is replaced by a fee fixed under subsection (1).
42. (1) A port authority shall not unjustly discriminate among users of the port, give an undue or unreasonable preference to any user or subject any user to an undue or unreasonable disadvantage.
(2) It is not unjust discrimination and it is not an undue nor an unreasonable preference or disadvantage for a port authority to differentiate among users on the basis of the volume or value of goods shipped or on any other basis that is generally commercially accepted.
43. (1) Where a port authority proposes to fix a new fee or revise an existing fee, it shall give notice of the proposal in accordance with this section and no fee shall come into force before the expiration of thirty days after the last of the notices is given.
(2) The notice shall
(a) set out the particulars of the proposal;
(b) specify that a document containing more details about the proposal may be obtained from the port authority on request; and
(c) specify that persons interested in making representations in writing to the port authority about the proposal may do so by writing to the address set out in the notice.
(3) The port authority shall
(a) have the notice published in a major newspaper published or distributed in the place where the port is situated;
(b) send, by mail or by electronic means, a copy of the notice to
(i) organizations whose members will, in the opinion of the port authority, be affected by the new or revised fee, and
(ii) every user and other person who has, at least ten days before, notified the port authority of a desire to receive notices or announcements under this Part; and
(c) post an electronic version of the notice in a location that is generally accessible to persons who have access to what is commonly referred to as the Internet.
44. A port authority may agree, by a contract that the parties may agree to keep confidential, to accept fees other than those fixed under subsection 41(1).
