Evidence of meeting #41 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was commissioner.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL
What about tonnage? Tonnage-wise, would Placentia Bay be the highest tonnage of tanker traffic, supertanker traffic, in Canada right now?
5:05 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security, Department of Transport
I cannot answer that definitively. I'd be happy to get back to you on that, though.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL
Okay. That leads into my next question. When the commissioner talks about the risk assessments needing updating, Transport Canada, as you know, did a south coast of Newfoundland assessment in 2007.
5:05 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security, Department of Transport
That's correct.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL
Many would say that there has been no action from that assessment. Is that a fair statement to say?
5:05 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security, Department of Transport
No, I don't think so. I know the coast guard has repositioned some resources as a result of that risk analysis, and I'll let Ms. Thomas answer that portion.
5:05 p.m.
Deputy Commissioner, Operations, Canadian Coast Guard, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Yes, the coast guard has repositioned equipment, as I said in my opening statement, to respond to the increase in traffic there.
It's an evolving risk environment, so the risk assessment we will do with Transport Canada. Once it has been scoped and we determine what size the risk assessment needs to be, we'll be able to determine more accurately if we have enough equipment positioned in Placentia Bay, as an example. But in a response to this risk study that was done, we did increase the level of equipment that was in Placentia.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL
Mr. McDonald, on this assessment for the south coast of Newfoundland, you're now doing another study. You studied it three years ago. You've now done an untendered contract to someone to study the capacity of response in Placentia Bay, and the commissioner has already told us that we don't need another study. What we need is government action on this kind of response. So why are you studying it again when you already have the data that we need to do more work in Placentia Bay?
5:05 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security, Department of Transport
I'm sorry, I'm not aware of another study being done.
5:05 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security, Department of Transport
Okay. I'll have to look into that. I'm not aware of this particular study to which you're referring.
5:05 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL
I have another question. You've talked about the certified response organizations in Canada. There are four, and two are in Nova Scotia. Have you given any consideration to the high-risk area in Placentia Bay having its own response organization there?
5:10 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Safety and Security, Department of Transport
No, that is not something we have considered at this point. The Placentia Bay area is covered by the Eastern Canada Response Corporation, and we feel they have adequate capacity to cover the risks that we're asking them to cover.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL
Ms. Thomas, in your statement you talked about the response strategy being ready and in place in the spring of 2011. Is there going to be any public or community input into this response strategy?
5:10 p.m.
Deputy Commissioner, Operations, Canadian Coast Guard, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Generally, when we're conducting studies, we consult with our stakeholders and our partners, so I would say yes.
5:10 p.m.
Deputy Commissioner, Operations, Canadian Coast Guard, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
We're scoping the response now, and we'll be discussing and consulting with stakeholders.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
Scott Andrews Liberal Avalon, NL
When you say “scoping the response”, could you just please elaborate on that a little?
5:10 p.m.
Deputy Commissioner, Operations, Canadian Coast Guard, Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Well, we need to work with our partner departments to determine the size of the study, who's going to do it, what it's going to cost, before we launch into it.
5:10 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
Thank you. The time has expired. I know it goes by quickly when you're having fun.
Mr. Woodworth, now it is your turn.
5:10 p.m.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
Thank you.
Commissioner Vaughan, as always, I want to just clarify the extent of your study with respect to oil spills. I understand, for example, that your study did not examine prevention or detection activities. Is that correct?
5:10 p.m.
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Office of the Auditor General of Canada
Yes, that's correct, sir.
5:10 p.m.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
And I understand in fact that your study and recommendations relate to management systems, including, for example, the documentation of activities. Is that correct?
5:10 p.m.
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Office of the Auditor General of Canada
That is correct.
5:10 p.m.
Conservative
Stephen Woodworth Conservative Kitchener Centre, ON
For example, I understand that you discovered that Canada has 244,000 kilometres of coastline. Am I reading that correctly?