Natural Resources committee  I'm happy to follow up with Mr. McGee on that. We'll follow up on that.

Natural Resources committee  No, there was no follow-up on the part of MDS Nordion to our department following the November 22 meeting.

Natural Resources committee  Yes. Mr. Chair, the protocol is signed by AECL, Health Canada, and NRCan.

Natural Resources committee  As I've responded to the previous member, there was not a formal communications protocol in place. We now have it in place, and it has been signed by the deputy ministers of Health Canada, NRCan, and the CEO of AECL to ensure that this will not happen again. But looking backwards, I don't believe there was a protocol in place.

Natural Resources committee  We have regular communication, almost all the time, between members of the portfolio, including AECL, but it's only coming out of the situation last November and December and the seriousness of it that we've put in place a formal protocol. So this is, to my knowledge, the first time it has been formalized, and particularly at the deputy minister level.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, I have spent many weeks reviewing this situation in my own mind. I can tell you that I believe my department acted responsibly with the information it had on any given day. The information was insufficient. There was, at times, uncertainty as to the duration of the outage.

Natural Resources committee  The issue is an important one. It relates to the role a deputy minister plays. As to the information on my appointment to the board of AECL, for one thing, it is a relatively recent appointment, and I felt that most members of the committee would actually be aware of it, because the OIC had been made public.

Natural Resources committee  It is a very important question, and I understand the time the committee is taking in reviewing these timelines. It's one that I have spent a considerable amount of time reviewing myself. I can tell you that the meeting of November 22 was one that was scheduled to address another issue.

Natural Resources committee  No, Mr. Chair. The intent of my appointment, as I explained, was to ensure that there would be close communication around the review of AECL, during the review of AECL, which was announced on November 29.

Natural Resources committee  Yes. I'm not certain. I could provide you with the exact date, but it would have been some time in late November.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chairman, that is correct.

Natural Resources committee  I was aware of the government's intent to appoint me to the board perhaps about a week ahead of the actual appointment. I wasn't aware of when the actual appointment went through exactly.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, my knowledge is that there was absolutely no connection between the NRU issue and my appointment to the board of AECL.

Natural Resources committee  That is correct.

Natural Resources committee  I did not. And I would mention that my role in all matters related to the portfolio is to be the senior advisor to the minister. My role on the AECL board is to represent the shareholder, which is the Government of Canada. The share is held in trust by the Minister of Natural Resources.