Natural Resources Committee on March 1st, 2011

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Typically we are in camera for committee business.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Do you want to move in camera?

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

I guess not. That's fine. I assumed we were, but if we're not, then....

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

I thought it was just going to be a couple of questions. We normally do. I thought it would just be a couple of questions. I wasn't sure....

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Okay.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Actually, I thought the question was answered.

But for March 8 and 10, Monsieur Pomerleau, what's the issue here? Do you have further questions? Do you have some proposals?

[Roger Pomerleau, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Chair, I simply wanted to draw your attention to the fact that we had submitted a list of witnesses who were supposed to be called but who apparently were not. We are not trying to find out what exactly happened, but we were wondering whether it would possible to have an additional day so that they may be heard.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Monsieur Pomerleau, first of all, to make it clear, all of the witnesses named in the motion have been called. Of the other witnesses, many were called, some from all parties. A vast majority of the witnesses have been invited. We have to go through the process of inviting and waiting for a response. So far we have only six witnesses absolutely confirmed, in spite of the fact that these invitations went out some time ago. We have another four or so who haven't responded. And there still are a few who haven't been invited—but not many. We've gone through the priority list as given to us, as we said we would. That's the situation. So in fact they have been invited.

Monsieur Coderre.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would have been concerned about not seeing any representatives on the list from the Quebec Union of Municipalities. This morning, I spoke to the mayor of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Mr. Lapointe, and it is to our advantage that I did so. Not only does he participate in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, but he is also the chair of the Environmental Policy Committee for the Quebec Union of Municipalities. So there will be a representative from the Quebec Union of Municipalities in addition to Mr. Ullrich.

I think those two days will be enough, but I cannot say that I would automatically rule out adding a third day. We have to wait to see how it all unfolds. I must admit that it is always somewhat frustrating to hear from the representatives of the CNSC and Bruce Power one day, and to have to hear a whole series of witnesses thereafter. We approve of what has been agreed to, that only two days will be set aside, the 8th and the 10th. I am sure that, in light of our discussions, we may need to delve more deeply into the issue. For now, I think that the normal process should run its course.

I would like to point out one thing. We did receive a comprehensive briefing from the CNSC, and we should thank them for that. Given that we are a standing committee, I am sure that the CNSC representatives could have been here for two hours. When we only have one hour to hear from a group of witnesses, we can only fit in one round of questioning, and each party has a mere two or three minutes to speak. What has occurred is no small potatoes. A lot of people and municipalities have signed the petition. It is important to take the time to clarify the situation to avoid any problems with perception. Personally, I would have preferred to see the last day allocated in its entirety to the CNSC. I would have liked to start with the representatives from Bruce Power, and then to hear from witnesses who are opposed to the project, so that they can explain their reasons. We need to find out if they are simply afraid, if they have questions relating to the facts, or if they are afraid of setting a precedent, and so on. I don't think that one hour with the CNSC is enough, even if we did have a briefing. I would have preferred to devote an entire day to the topic, and that is why I want to keep the possibility of adding a third day. We can ask the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to present at the beginning, and then we could listen to what the representatives of Bruce Power have to say. Finally, we could meet with representatives from the municipalities and groups on nuclear safety, specifically the people from Ontario and Quebec. After that, we will be in a position to determine whether or not we need to add a third day.

Managing the perception of the project will be very important on this file, just as important as the facts.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Merci, Monsieur Coderre.

Just so you know, there are mayors who have agreed to come, including from Quebec.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

I know. That's why I'm saying that two days are sufficient for now. But because of the complexity and the perception level of that situation, I believe we might need a third one. For now, let's see what goes on in those two days, and then we'll pick it up from there. That's our position.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Great. Thank you.

We're almost out of time.

Mr. Cullen.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

I appreciate this, and I guess I share some similar frustrations about trying to put eight panellists into a day and two on another.

We had on our list an additional five folks--I could list them--and from my understanding none of them were contacted. I expressed some concern to you. Perhaps you could clarify that for me. I'm looking at the additional lists for the two large panels. There has been no conversation with Bruce Power or CNSC, but we had Emma Lui, Chief Randall Kahgee, Theresa Mclenaghan, the office of Senator Feingold, and Sharon Skelly on our additions list. We've heard from them that they haven't been contacted at all.

Can you confirm that one way or the other for me?

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Mr. Cullen, you have requested at this committee--no matter which session it was--far more witnesses than any other party. That seems to be disproportionate, but that's the way it has been. In this motion you requested six different witnesses. They were all invited to come, and many of them are coming.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Just to be clear, those weren't my requests. Those original six were committee requests.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

It was your motion, wasn't it?

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

I hear your point.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

You can't expect one party, one individual out of how many on this committee...and you want to have all the witnesses. It can't work like that. It has to be fair.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

That isn't my question or my expectation, Chair.

The committee passed the first set, right?

I asked a specific question. Were any of the five additional witnesses who we submitted contacted?

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

No. There were six in the original motion.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Thank you. That's my answer.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

Mr. Anderson.

[David Anderson, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

I'll be short and quick.

I agree with Denis. I would actually like to see CNSC's hour given to them, presenting, rather than our even having a round, because that presentation is important. I think it needs to be made and I think it needs to be publicly presented. So I'm going to make that suggestion. I'd like to see more time with them. I don't know what Bruce Power is going to say, but I think you're right there.

The other problem is that, again, as we usually have here, we have 25 or 30 witnesses. So we limit ourselves to one day. We have to have the discipline, again, or we're going to be here for three, four, or ten more days. We ask the witnesses who come back.... We try to find a priority mix from the four parties. We have one day to see what's going on, and then decide if we want to go further.

We have individuals writing us now who want to appear. Are we going to bring every person in who requests now? If so, we'll be doing this for a month, and our main report gets put off another month. It has gone on pretty much long enough, I think.

[The Chair, Conservative, Leon Benoit]

The committee has only agreed to two meetings, of course.

Monsieur Pomerleau.

[Roger Pomerleau, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Chair, I am also a little disappointed with the way things are happening here. We had suggested calling representatives from the Quebec Department of Sustainable Development, the Environment and Parks, as well as representatives from the City of Montreal. Were they contacted?