Industry committee  That question really should be addressed to the minister and his department. It is not our responsibility. Parliament makes decisions about Canadian laws. Not us. However, security is an important consideration in the Telecommunications Act. No question about it. It's not currently addressed in the act, but it's very important to include it.

Industry committee  I beg your pardon. I will answer in English, if I may. It is simply too early to indicate what will be a commission decision. We are a tribunal. We are quasi-judicial. We make our decisions based on facts and a record, not public statements or promises. We will get a record and then we will take the next steps.

Industry committee  Our technical staff was aware of it in the morning. Obviously, from about nine o'clock on, our client services received some complaints. There were news items and so on. Rogers' technical staff reached our telecommunications staff in the mid-morning. I don't have the precise time with me, but I would say something around 10:30, which is consistent with what I heard Mr.

Industry committee  There were many things. Fundamentally, we were attempting to find out and discuss it with Rogers. We were in contact with them throughout the day to understand the nature of the outage and when it would be restored. Those were the fundamental issues to which, in fairness, they couldn't answer.

Industry committee  If I can join in, I think there's a distinction here. Outages happen, and I don't like saying it's not just Rogers. At the moment it's very much Rogers, and there have been two in relatively recent times; you are quite correct. They're so different in nature that it's hard to ask why the right measures weren't put in place.

Industry committee  I don't think so. A legislative provision can't resolve this type of situation.

Industry committee  We have barely begun our examination. I can't reach a conclusion before we have evidence.

Industry committee  First of all, whether or not penalties are required is a matter still to be determined. We have a number of tools at our disposal, the most obvious of which is administrative monetary penalties, but they are used to encourage compliance. They are not meant or designed to be punitive, which is made clear in the legislation.

Industry committee  I think that's a very significant oversight, but, yes, we are accountable to Parliament. I would take issue with your characterization of the public's not knowing. Not only are the claims of confidentiality subject to applications by the public, but they are a matter of public record.

Industry committee  My understanding is that the matters the minister has raised are being assigned to ESWG. ESWG is a committee made up of ISED representatives and industry technical representatives. I have been assured that we will be invited to participate at the ESWG.

Industry committee  Are all of the matters at ESWG public? No, because they relate to technical issues that, if they were completely public, would create a tool kit for those who have nefarious intentions. There is certain information that needs to be protected, Mr. Masse.

Industry committee  No, the public includes those who would exploit that information.

Industry committee  Thank you, Mr. Masse. We will be looking at a number of possibilities. I can't say what they will be yet. As I said, the first step is to examine and satisfy ourselves about the completeness of the responses working through ESWG, and then the commission will make a determination as to the next steps.

Industry committee  There are a lot of elements to that question, but I will say this. Number one, you asked whose fault it is, and the answer is Rogers. You asked me—

Industry committee  They operate the network, and they are responsible. They are, and they have taken responsibility for the outage. Our responsibility will be to investigate thoroughly. We do so in a public manner through public proceedings. The only information that will be kept confidential is that which is either harmful for competitive reasons or harmful because it could provide a tool kit for those who would exploit weaknesses in the networks.