Natural Resources committee  Clause 54 provides the notification that is carried out by the tribunal. They decide an award in respect of the claim in subclause 54(2), and the notification is sent to the minister indicating the award and any reductions prescribed by regulations concerning any amounts already

Natural Resources committee  It's an accounting of the decision. So it's a pure accounting.

Natural Resources committee  It's columns, columns, columns. This is the payment.

Natural Resources committee  In this legislation, as opposed to the previous legislation, there is a requirement for the minister to table in Parliament an estimation of the costs of the incident. So we see that as being the opportunity for having a good quantification of the damages early in the process.

Natural Resources committee  That's correct.

Natural Resources committee  But the alternative would be that if you had left the issue fully with the courts, the courts would deal with the claims on a first-come, first-served basis. Then that would not serve the bulk of the victims. I would expect, rather, that who can be first across the line would be

Natural Resources committee  The issue, though, is that it's not really any different from any other administrative tribunals that adjudicate very large losses and large damage situations.

Natural Resources committee  The minister would pay out of the nuclear liability reinsurance account, and the amounts would be reimbursed by the operator into the reinsurance account.

Natural Resources committee  The operators have the insurance now. The federal government has a small amount in the reinsurance account. When the tribunal is established, the operator's liability is to the crown instead of to the individual victims, and those payments become a debt to the crown. So when the

Natural Resources committee  The limit of the tribunal's authority to pay out is $650 million. But one would expect that if additional funds were being appropriated, they would be appropriated as a result of the tabling of the report, soon after the incident, of the estimated cost of claims, etc. It would be

Natural Resources committee  That's correct. Going into this, the tribunal must realize that it has $650 million to use to compensate victims. It has by regulation certain abilities to pro-rate expenses, to not pay certain damages, etc., in order to maximize that $650 million or to triage it, as you indicate

Natural Resources committee  The situation is that the chair of the tribunal would ask for certain cases to be considered either by a claims officer or by a panel of one. A case may be heard by a claims officer who is not a retired judge but is someone who is used to dealing with claims for compensation. In

Natural Resources committee  Go ahead, Brenda.

Natural Resources committee  That's correct.

Natural Resources committee  That's correct. The panel would be set up from the members of the tribunal. The backgrounds of the members of the tribunal are described in clause 38, that a majority of the members are to be appointed among sitting or retired judges.