Thank you very much. That's a very good question.
I'll just start with noting that about three or four years ago some of what you raised was appreciated by the industry, and there was a successful attempt at getting a very high level of CEO suite of our industry, which is a broad one. As you know, it goes from mining right through to the Chalk River site and the SMEs that Ron mentioned. It's a diverse group.
Nevertheless, it came together to establish what we called the nuclear leadership forum. Through deliberations, there was an identification of five different areas where the industry determined what needs to be done in order to keep that status that Ron was describing, whether you call it “tier one” or “in the top league”. That resulted in five action teams, which are still in operation. They don't fade away and they don't finish entirely.
One of them is very practical. It's on refurbishment, so it's a real focus on the importance of getting that job done. One is on innovation. I've been involved in that one, and there was an identification of the ecosystem you mentioned and trying to determine the ways forward. There's one on international. There's also one on human resources and the skilled workforce of the future for the industry. The other one is on waste management. Those are the five. That developed some very good work, because it brought the industry together from its diversity to focusing on these five key areas.
However, the one thing that's been missing is how we take this to government, federally as well as provincially, and not just Ontario. We've talked to Saskatchewan, and we're willing to talk to other provincial governments who may have an interest there.
That is why we are proposing an innovation council and a sector council. We don't have one like mining, automotive, and aerospace do. That would bring that kind of interaction, which then could really, I think, result in a strategic approach government-industry partnership, etc.