I'm not sure about the potential conflict between the different levels of government. I can give you some very specific feedback on the issue of exercises and training, particularly exercises in the area of infrastructure protection in which the Government of Canada has become more active over the last couple of years, most notably with the lessons learned workshop that occurred following the 2003 blackout, and then the Silver Links exercise that was held a year later.
What was shown was probably very much like how these situations need to be handled when an event occurs. An absolute requirement is coordination from all levels of government. The Silver Links exercise that PSEPC organized is a perfect example. It was a collaboration between federal and provincial authorities, authorities in the United States, industry, private industry, associations, asset owners, and operators. It proved to be an excellent opportunity to learn some very important lessons.
I think the promotion of exercises is important. We certainly were able to take some lessons from those exercises and make some changes in terms of our processes; I know a number of other sectors that participated in those exercises did so. The further promotion of exercises by the Government of Canada can only benefit all the players involved--those in the federal government, those in the provinces, and those in private industry.