I would want to look at this more carefully. I think Chief Justice Hickman was responding to a circumstance that pertained to the early 1980s as the regulatory regime was taking shape. The problem he had was that the various powers were pulling apart.
I think Wells is referring to a completely different scenario,and given the Cullen report and even things that the Americans have had to do in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon gulf oil spill, I think a strong case can be made for an independent stand-alone safety organization.
If you talk to the people who work in health and safety for the offshore both in Nova Scotia and in Newfoundland, I bet you they would say that even given the flawed regulatory regime they've been working with up to now ,they could have done more if they had had more resources. You people know better than anyone else: you can have good laws, but if you don't have the resources to implement them....