Thank you, Michael.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to speak to you today.
Environment Canada's enforcement branch is responsible for enforcing a number of important environmental laws, such as those my colleague has mentioned: the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the pollution prevention provisions of the Fisheries Act, and the Migratory Birds Convention Act, all of which, of course, apply to the Arctic as well. However, Environment Canada does not enforce the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act. This is a Transport Canada responsibility.
Much of our compliance verification work in the area focuses, as Michael has said, on sectors such as operating mines, advanced mineral exploration sites, and federal facilities. Under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act,we enforce regulations pertaining to PCBs, halocarbons, disposal at sea permits, fuel storage tanks, and these sorts of things, mostly land-based.
We currently have six enforcement officers stationed in the Arctic, with five in Yellowknife and one in Iqaluit. We'll soon be adding another four in Yellowknife, bringing our total to ten, and twelve if you include the two officers we have in Whitehorse.
We have strong partnerships with the other federal organizations active in the area, such as Transport Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs, the RCMP, colleagues from the coast guard, Fisheries and Oceans, and, of course, the territorial governments.
We're members of the key environmental protection and enforcement bodies such as the Northwest Territories/Nunavut Spills Working Agreement, which is a single window for reporting spills and dispatching information to the appropriate agency. We also participate in the Arctic security interdepartmental working group, which is focused primarily on security, but every session always has an element on the environment.
Our partners serve as additional eyes and ears in northern communities and also provide us access to important assets such as ships and aircraft for transportation and surveillance. As examples, Transport Canada provides us with information from their daily surveillance overflights of Arctic areas, and the RCMP make watercraft available to us when needed. Territorial enforcement officers are also designated, under federal wildlife enforcement laws such as the Migratory Birds Convention Act, to add further reach to the federal powers.
With respect to marine incidents specifically, the coast guard, of course, is the first responder for spills. Follow-up investigations are conducted either by Transport Canada or by Environment Canada, or by both, depending on the nature of the spill, and in accordance with a memorandum of understanding between our two departments that sets out the respective roles and responsibilities. In a typical year, we may respond to between two and three marine incidents.
Although the Arctic is vast and challenging, our officers and our partners work in concert to enforce environmental laws in this important and sensitive region.
Thank you.