Fisheries committee  As announced by the Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard, they are waiting for the Commissioner of Official Languages' report before they close the Centre de sauvetage maritime de Québec. The discussion in the media about the exercise that occurred in Halifax is not quite accurate.

Fisheries committee  There's more than one bilingual employee. There are three stands, one English and two bilingual, in the Halifax search and rescue centre. I'm not sure where the idea of one person came from. That's not in fact accurate. In MRSC Quebec, there's a single stand. It's one person who meets bilingual standards of BBB, so generally speaks in French rather than English.

Fisheries committee  Well, I'm not quite sure what you're asking.

Fisheries committee  Okay. The changes that the coast guard has made as a result of the deficit reduction action plan, the cuts we're making, have been effectively conducted this year. We did close the Kitsilano coast guard station, but we have opened the inshore rescue boat, as committed to. The hovercraft out of Sea Island has responded effectively to search and rescue in the Vancouver area.

Fisheries committee  The closure of the Kitsilano coast guard station has cost savings that have been announced, and they are, as stated, about $700,000. The cost of creating the small structure for the inshore rescue boat was part of the plan, and it was considered in the gross costs; therefore, the net savings are $700,000.

Fisheries committee  Absolutely. Thank you, David. As you're aware, the coast guard is undertaking a significant project to consolidate our marine communication and traffic services centres. That consolidation is predicated on a complete overhaul of the technology behind the operators, with entirely new consoles, entirely new screens, and entirely new views of the vessels and safety systems they're managing.

Fisheries committee  Absolutely.

Fisheries committee  I can tell you absolutely that Assistant Commissioner Vija Poruks was not fired. She is on leave. She has chosen to leave the coast guard after a long and illustrious service in the public service, many years with the coast guard. She was in absolutely no way fired.

Fisheries committee  As the commissioner said on Tuesday, we are taking the recommendations of the Commissioner of Official Languages very seriously as we plan the consolidation of the MRSC Quebec into JRCCs in Halifax and Trenton. We will not proceed until we are certain that the level of safety provided to mariners now will be unchanged and that we can meet the official language requirements as laid out by both our clients but also as defined by the Commissioner of Official Languages.

Fisheries committee  Yes, we did.

Fisheries committee  The linguistic requirements in Halifax have already been increased to a bilingual level of CBC. They were BBB. So yes, we have raised the levels already in Halifax, and we will do so in Trenton.

Fisheries committee  Thank you, Mr. Kamp. When discussing search and rescue, it is critical to understand that there is no one asset, no one element of the program that ensures a safe rescue. We are very confident in the decision that has been made, and that the system, and SAR is a system of systems, that is in place is effective.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes.

Foreign Affairs committee  As we said, the Northwest Passage and the waters in the Arctic, the other routes available, are inherently still dangerous. The shippers know that, especially tankers. They don't take risks.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, we do. The Amundsen is in refit right now. We have a continual cycle of pulling a vessel out and putting it through refit.