Mr. Speaker, I am certainly pleased to have the opportunity to respond to the matters raised by the hon. member for Cumberland—Colchester on April 22, 1999 regarding the transportation of test quantities of mixed oxide fuel, otherwise known as MOX fuel.
Transport Canada's role is to ensure that if dangerous goods are transported in Canada, they are transported safely.
Before the transport of MOX fuel for testing in Chalk River can take place in Canada, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited is required to develop an emergency response assistance plan and obtain approval of the plan from Transport Canada. The emergency response assistance plan must set out how Atomic Energy of Canada Limited would respond in the event of an emergency. As well, it would contain the proposed routing options. Atomic Energy of Canada Limited has not yet proposed a plan to Transport Canada.
Given the fact that every year in Canada there are over 800,000 shipments of radioactive materials, department officials routinely offer technical sessions for fire chiefs and other respondents as a measure of safety. The offer from Transport Canada to begin the technical sessions in Nova Scotia erroneously contained the statement that the Russian federation MOX would arrive in Halifax.
As I mentioned earlier, we do not yet have a proposal from Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. Therefore, we do not know if Halifax will be proposed or not. However I can assure the House that if an application is received Transport Canada will carry out its role of ensuring that if this material is transported in Canada it will be transported safely.