Fisheries Committee on Feb. 15th, 2011

[Michael Peacock]

I don't control the duration of NEB's process. I would say it's going to be another year before that review concludes.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Lawrence MacAulay]

Thank you very much, Mr. Donnelly.

Mr. Calkins.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Wetaskiwin, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I appreciate the witnesses being here today. As the only Alberta member of Parliament on the fisheries and oceans committee, I spend a lot of time talking about fisheries, and not that much time talking about oceans. But I certainly can appreciate the complexities when dealing with oil and gas or the energy sector in regard to how it operates within Canada.

I'm going to ask a couple of questions. You have engaged in scientific undertakings for the purpose of gathering information for making an assessment of whether or not the activity is worth pursuing in the future, notwithstanding that you're shooting in the dark not knowing what the NEB's requirements will be. Given those uncertainties, could you provide this committee with any idea of how many more research projects there might be, and the times of the year, in order for you to have enough information to adequately address environmental impact assessments and satisfy the Department of Fisheries and Oceans?

Secondly, when it comes to collaboration, how have your companies engaged the local communities, in particular the rural and isolated communities? How are they being invited to participate in any of these processes, and what is their acceptance of your exploration activities to date?

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Lawrence MacAulay]

Mr. Peacock, there are a number of questions.

[Michael Peacock]

And very interesting questions.

I mentioned earlier that we have nine years to work an exploration licence, and nine years to us all seems a long time, but we have to collect—

[A voice]

There are only five left.

[Michael Peacock]

Exactly.

We have to collect the data, so we're in a situation, for example, now where Mr. Donnelly is asking us what we are going to do, and I've said we can't really do anything until we understand the results of the National Energy Board's drilling review. So we're trying to collect some of this data and move things forward in parallel, not knowing what some of those requirements are going to be. And that's a risk, an uncertainty that we take, and we take on the financial obligations associated with that.

Are we going to collect additional data? We hope to continue the collaboration with ArcticNet, with Monsieur Fortier's programs.

Will we need to acquire additional data as a result of the National Energy Board's review? Again, I can't answer that. We'll have to see what the results show.

[Anita Perry]

I would agree. It's the same. We will continue to collect environmental data.

On the other piece, about engaging the communities, how we engage the communities, before doing our ArcticNet program we would have consulted with the communities first and have information meetings with the communities, the six Inuvialuit communities in the area. And then after the program we went and debriefed with them. And they were most interested to know if we saw whales. Where did we see the whales? What else did we observe? They were very, very interested in finding out what we learned.

So we do it before and after, at least once a year, if not more often, to all six of the communities, and we work with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and with the game council. So there's a continuous sharing of information back with the communities.

[Michael Peacock]

We do similar things as well. For example, we put 20 local Inuvialuit through the technical college so that they can start and qualify for some of these on-board observation roles we have, and we employed Inuvialuit locals as our marine mammal observers on our seismic vessels.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Lawrence MacAulay]

Thank you very much, Mr. Calkins.

I want to thank the witnesses for appearing and for their responses.

The meeting will adjourn for five minutes.

Thank you very much.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Lawrence MacAulay]

Mr. Fortier, first all, welcome. We're very pleased to have you here representing ArcticNet, and you're also a professor of biology at the University of Laval.

I understand you have a powerpoint presentation. How long will the presentation be--maybe five minutes?

[Prof. Louis Fortier, Professor, Department of Biology, Université Laval]

It will be five minutes, maybe.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Lawrence MacAulay]

And then you have something to say after that?

[Prof. Louis Fortier]

No. The essence of my message will be on the powerpoint.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Lawrence MacAulay]

Thank you very much.

Proceed.

[Prof. Louis Fortier]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and honourable members, chers membres du comité.

I think you're going to hear over the week, over those sessions, a lot of information about the partnerships between ArcticNet and the oil industry in the Beaufort Sea. You're going to hear what we're not doing, which is drilling for oil, for example. We wish we could do it, but we don't have the capacity to do it on the Amundsen. You're going to hear a lot of things.

I think images are worth thousands of words, so I would like to take the committee with me, with us, into the Arctic, during those partnerships, with this powerpoint presentation to actually show you what we are doing during those partnerships with the oil industry in the Beaufort Sea rather than what we're not doing.

The representative from the industry explained quite clearly what ArcticNet is. These are unique partnerships among universities, industry, government, and not-for-profit organizations that will connect research excellence with industrial know-how and strategic investment in Canada.

One of those networks is ArcticNet. It's the only one we have in Canada to study the consequences of climate change as well as modernization and industrialization in the Arctic.

Our general mandate is very clear: we have to connect to supply the scientific information needed by all stakeholders, including industry, the Inuit people, the Inuit government, departments of the federal government, and the private sector. And this is what we are actually doing.

ArcticNet is managed--

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Lawrence MacAulay]

Monsieur Blais.

[Raynald Blais, Bloc, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

Pardon me, Mr. Fortier. I appreciate the presentation, but I note that it's in English only.

[Prof. Louis Fortier]

Unfortunately, Mr. Blais, I didn't have the time to write it in French.

[Raynald Blais, Bloc, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

This is quite curious. You represent Laval University in Quebec City, a Quebec university, and you submit a document to us in English only and tell me you didn't have the time to translate it into French.

[Prof. Louis Fortier]

In fact, I have it in French, but I didn't have the time to assemble it.

Mr. Blais, if you wish, I could give you the presentation in French, with the slides in English.

[Raynald Blais, Bloc, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

The interpretation is working well. That's not the problem, Mr. Fortier.

However, in accordance with the way the committee usually operates, every document that is presented to us must be in English and in French. Unless I'm mistaken, if the document is in English only, for one reason or another, we are asked to give our permission for it to be presented as such.

Sometimes I give permission when it's a matter of charts. I can understand that the charts present figures and that they're not necessarily indicated in French. I can show some openness. However, as you'll readily understand, when an entire document is presented in English only, I have to ask the chair to stop the projection.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Lawrence MacAulay]

If there isn't unanimous consent of the committee, and it's not in both languages, we can have it translated and sent to you. But that's not good enough?

[Raynald Blais, Bloc, Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

No.

[Prof. Louis Fortier]

That's not a problem, Mr. Chairman.