Transport committee  I am sorry, could you repeat the question?

Transport committee  I am responsible for the Quebec City marine rescue sub-centre.

Transport committee  Actually, the position has always been that the centre would not close if we did not have a guarantee that the same services would continue to be provided.

Transport committee  What I can offer there is that we try to maintain as much presence...if anything we're extending our presence in the Arctic. There are two ways to look at it. It's the number of ship-days in the Arctic or the window that our ships are available. As a matter of fact, the last ship

Transport committee  No, I think you've covered them.

Transport committee  Once again, we were in constant communication with the owner. He has always maintained that he meant to leave, but that was not happening. When he was ready to go last year, it was too late, and the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation did not allow him to transit the seawa

Transport committee  I said that there have been discussions with the owner. I also said that risk assessments had been done and no risk of a spill was identified. In terms of the vessel docking there or somewhere else, that is not our jurisdiction.

Transport committee  It is a fair statement, yes. If it's not maintained, rust will appear. Quite often it's surface rust, so it's not that worrying if it doesn't look good. But there's a huge safety margin in ship steel as well. They don't allow more than a certain wastage, and on this side I would

Transport committee  We have been doing that on an ongoing basis with the owner or his representative. We asked what his intentions were. Over the years, the owner has always had the intention to move on, but he has unfortunately not always kept his word. Over the past few months....

Transport committee  Steel does rust, but there was nothing wrong with the structure. That is also the reason it will be towed to another location. It is currently impossible to carry out a comprehensive and safe underwater inspection. That is why we agreed with the vessel being moved.

Transport committee  You did say Lake Saint-Louis, right?

Transport committee  As my colleague briefly mentioned, most large vessels that pass through the lake have to come to an agreement with response organizations. When pollution occurs, the polluter is always responsible for making arrangements with the relevant organization.

Transport committee  The Canadian Coast Guard has, of course, assessed the risks.

Transport committee  We have the power to assess the real risk. Last summer, many pollutants were removed from the vessel. There was no imminent risk regarding the vessel's stability. There was no indication that pollution could potentially occur. That said, over the past few days, the owner told us

Transport committee  I don't know whether my colleague from the Department of Transport would like to add anything. We were always abreast of the situation. There was never an imminent risk of pollution during that time.