Environment committee  That is correct.

Environment committee  I'll ask Mr. Sloan now.

Environment committee  That's correct.

Environment committee  On that point, one of the things we've said is that a warning letter could be a deterrent, but the only way Environment Canada would know whether it was a deterrent was if they were to go back and follow up to see whether or not the warning letter led to the regulated entity coming back into compliance.

Environment committee  Yes, that's correct.

Environment committee  No, not a bit. We haven't questioned that. The numbers speak for themselves: there were 600 warning letters in a year. We didn't question whether or not those warning letters were appropriate. What we said is that there is a requirement to do a follow-up, which is the policy of Environment Canada.

Environment committee  Yes, and I'll let me colleague, Mr. Sloan, amplify my answer. Yes, the temporary permits are intended to be given temporarily. We've said that half of them were for five years or more. Some of them were for 10 years. One was for 13 years. What the requirements are for a temporary permit from Transport Canada are significantly less stringent than they would be for permanent approval.

Environment committee  Those thresholds aren't followed to the same rigour for the temporary approval.

Environment committee  That's correct. The inspectors then would say they have the discretion to decide what is or what is not mandatory. The only mandatory thing is to have a phone number that works.

Environment committee  That's about right. There are 71,000 kilometres of pipeline that NEB has a regulatory responsibility for. There are about 65, 66, or 67 employees at the National Energy Board—who, by the way, I must say, are highly professional, hard working, highly skilled, and very technically astute public servants.

Environment committee  Absolutely, yes.

Environment committee  No, we did not.

Environment committee  That's correct, yes.

Environment committee  I would make two comments, if I may, Mr. Chair. First, the honourable member is absolutely correct that it's 40% where a violation was found and a decision was taken not to prosecute or pursue further action. What we have said is that Environment Canada's own policies require a senior management sign-off.

Environment committee  No, that would potentially be some legal.... Our role, as I'm sure the honourable member can appreciate, is to look at the management systems within Environment Canada and not at those cases against which action had been taken.