Natural Resources committee  You're correct.

Natural Resources committee  I misheard a few words; I apologize.

Natural Resources committee  What is of concern to the NEB is to hear what people have to say. For that reason, we will be travelling to every northern community that wishes to speak with us.

Natural Resources committee  Thank you. I understand your question better now. Under the NEB Act, for pipeline hearings we do have the legal authority to have participant funding. That includes research. Under COGOA, the Canada Oil and Gas Operations Act, we do not have the legal authority. We're doing all we can within these constraints to be reachable.

Natural Resources committee  What we are doing is as broad a review as we feel is necessary within our mandate. We are doing no more than that--

Natural Resources committee  Within our mandate, we went as broadly as we could, Mr. Cullen. There's no question that we're not asking, which we will have to face one day if an application is filed and if we have to deal with that.

Natural Resources committee  As we understand it, we're not part of the policy arm of government. We're doing what the board members of the NEB--an independent, quasi-judicial administrative tribunal--have decided to do to deal with our mandate, which is broad enough already.

Natural Resources committee  The honest answer to your question was the one I gave you, honourable member. Your question, verbatim, was: Is it possible to have an oil operation in the Arctic in a predominantly ice-filled environment and have same-season relief wells also available to a company? The chair asked me to be brief.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Tonks, thank you for that question. I can say unequivocally that yes, the safety offshore community of regulators, as we promote management systems--which is really a plan to review the learning loop--applies that philosophy to itself. Any incident like the one in the Gulf of Mexico is fed into our thinking process as we prepare for future applications.

Natural Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning, honourable members of Parliament. I thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today and I look forward to providing you with an update on the status of Emergency Response to Offshore Oil and Gas Drilling. On May 11, just weeks after the blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, the National Energy Board committed to reviewing the safety and environmental requirements for offshore drilling in the Canadian Arctic.

Natural Resources committee  Yes.

Natural Resources committee  It is comparable with a few differences. For instance, we have no business at the board in terms of land sales and the rights administration. We do strictly the regulatory safety environmental protection aspects. Their mandate is slightly broader, I would say.

Natural Resources committee  No, in areas of their jurisdiction, they have exclusive jurisdiction. We just don't get involved in drilling offshore in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Natural Resources committee  I can't recall. We could verify that and let you know, but I don't think my information here stipulates that. We'll undertake to provide that to the clerk.

Natural Resources committee  It is our policy, and industry knows that. That is why last fall they filed an application by letter to have us vary that and replace it with something else. We stopped that hearing because we thought the issue now with the Gulf of Mexico required closer and broader attention.