Okay.
This deficiency is well recognized by the federal bureaucracy. Over the past three years, they have designed a process called a Beaufort regional environmental assessment, which would be analogous to and even better than what the MMS did in 2003. The Inuvialuit supported it; industry supported it; we supported it; federal departments supported it; and the government killed it in budget 2010.
WWF does not believe an NEB inquiry alone can address these issues, which stretch beyond its present jurisdiction. The NEB is placed in a potentially untenable position when a $1.2-billion contract, which requires a well, results from an unregulated process before their regulatory administration even begins.
Canada needs a consistent set of regulations that safeguard our environment, our coastal communities, and our industries. If the NEB cannot choreograph such a nationally inclusive process, then a time-limited commission of inquiry should be struck with the purpose of raising Canada's oversight of offshore oil and gas management at least to standards set by the Arctic Council in 2009. As we have seen, the American regulatory process has proven inadequate to prevent a significant disaster, and our regulatory process is weaker than that of the Americans.