Natural Resources committee  We certainly look at Norway, the United Kingdom, the Gulf of Mexico, and Australia, which have very similar offshore jurisdictions to those of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.

Natural Resources committee  We looked at the basic survival training for the most part, which is the training that every offshore worker has to go through before they go offshore. So we looked at all components of that—how they're trained to escape a helicopter, how they use their lifesaving equipment, how

Natural Resources committee  I don't think it would be dramatically different. I think we’ve probably improved since then. I wouldn't say it would be a dramatic improvement.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, that certainly occurred in the past, and the Offshore Petroleum Board was always the principal regulator for the offshore. Occasionally, the provincial departments of labour thought that they also had a role.

Natural Resources committee  That's correct, yes.

Natural Resources committee  I haven't seen that in the past. But I think this bill does provide clarity as to exactly who has regulatory authority over occupational health and safety. So if there are any disagreements now with respect to any incident or any safety-related issue, this bill provides clarity a

Natural Resources committee  Now this provides some additional clarity.

Natural Resources committee  No, $40 billion has been spent since 1996 on investment in the offshore in Newfoundland.

Natural Resources committee  Certainly, the investment in the offshore oil and gas in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia will continue to increase in the future, in my view. This bill won't have any impact on investment.

Natural Resources committee  I hope that's the case, but I think the real benefit will come from industry workers having a view that their voice may be greatly heard now with the passage of this bill. They'll have more input into safety-related matters dealing with themselves.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, that's correct, that the workers have a view and that view will be heard.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, well, there's certainly always room for continuous improvement when it comes to safety training. As Justice Wells indicated, new equipment to enhance training is available within the training institute in Newfoundland and in Nova Scotia as well. As technology improves, obvio

Natural Resources committee  I don't think the bill will help in that regard. What industry has been doing lately when it hires contractors is to their contracts the requirement that they have to adhere to certain safety performance metrics and safety programs in general. So we hire contractors and make sure

Natural Resources committee  Yes.

Natural Resources committee  You have to put what this bill does in context. It just allows some clarity as to who has responsibility for occupational health and safety in the offshore. What was happening before this bill was that some of the offshore regulations were under provincial control and some were u