We've had some discussions with the Offshore Petroleum Board about how to address this kind of issue. Under the accord act, the board has to negotiate a memorandum of understanding with any agency that has regulatory authority within the offshore. With Bill S-15, and with the establishment of the park, we would obviously be regulating a national park.
A memorandum of understanding is definitely something that we have discussed and we want to put in place. That could provide one place in which to do it, and it could be done earlier. As Mr. Latourelle indicated, that is something we've indicated we would consult on in order to get views on the issue.
There are other things under the accord act that, as a matter of practice, can be done. We have not reached any decisions with the board as to which is the best way to do it. Under the accord act, ministers can issue a directive to the board on a range of issues. The board can amend its environmental policy and practice guidelines to build that into place, which is something they place on their website.
There are these various instruments that we want to fully explore with the board to figure out how we can bring a protocol into place, so that people understand what the parameters are if and when a request is made to authorize such activity.