Fisheries committee  The audio cut out a little bit at the beginning of that question. I'm not sure that it's necessary to go back. As Mr. Brickett has said, the Coast Guard continues to work closely with the shipowner, and the shipowner is the organization that is contracting—

Fisheries committee  I think it's fair to say that with the situation with the Zim Kingston and the fact that there are 105 sea containers that are unaccounted for, debris will surface and wash up. The Coast Guard will continue to work with the shipowner to attend those beaches where there are reports from the public or from first nations.

Fisheries committee  Mr. Chair, it might be best if I ask J.J. to answer that question, because you'll get a more realistic answer from the person who was on the ground dealing with it. J.J., go ahead.

Fisheries committee  Mr. Chair, I don't think it's appropriate for me to question what could have happened had the master made a different decision. The master decides. He's in charge of his ship. He would have had access to the weather forecast information and he made a professional decision based on his experience.

Fisheries committee  Again, I think from the perspective of a mariner, I would point out that it would not have been an intentional decision to drive into the storm for that purpose. As to the making of regulations, I think I will ask Transport Canada to answer that question.

Fisheries committee  No, I'm sorry. We don't have that. That's not part of our jurisdiction.

Fisheries committee  Mr. Chair, I'd just like to reiterate that the responsibility for searching for and recovering those containers rests with the shipowner. The Coast Guard's responsibility is to make sure that they keep after that and that they are taking adequate action. When it comes to actually looking for and finding those containers, the sonar scan would determine where there are containers.

Fisheries committee  For the details of the polluter pay principle, I think François is going to take that question.

Fisheries committee  Mr. Chair, I could not hear the last part of the question. The audio cut out. I heard “could the master have avoided”, and then I lost it. I'm sorry.

Fisheries committee  Mr. Chair, I'd like to mention that in the immediate aftermath of learning about the loss of the containers, the Coast Guard triggered our area response plans. A fundamental part of the area response plans is, in fact, direct and immediate communication with affected first nations.

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question. First of all, we can certainly send you the report and scientific information on hazardous chemicals. In terms of the regulations associated with decisions to stay at sea or not during a storm, I would probably have to ask Transport Canada to provide an answer.

Fisheries committee  There were not, as far as I am aware. I will ask Jonathan Brickett if he is aware of any MCTS outages. My understanding is that the answer is no, but he is much closer to the coalface in Victoria.

Fisheries committee  I'm sorry, sir. I'm not familiar with the outages to which you refer. I'd be happy to get some specific information about that, and we can research an answer for you. My understanding is that the marine communications and traffic services system and its technology were working as designed and properly, with adequate staffing at the time.

Fisheries committee  Well, sir, it is a fact that the master of the ship is the person who makes the decision about whether the ship will proceed, regardless of the weather, and increased weather forecasting wouldn't preclude the master from making a decision to proceed on his voyage.

Fisheries committee  Two. There were four containers that went over that were in the cargo of the Zim Kingston that had dangerous goods on them. They were chemicals properly packaged and marked. Two of them went overboard when the ship was off Vancouver Island, and the other two remained on board the ship.