Chalk River Nuclear Facilities  Mr. Speaker, Canadians are still waiting for that minister to drop his rehearsed line and answer the serious questions. Last night on television, Brian McGee, who is a senior official at AECL, said, “I'm accountable and responsible for this”. It is a breath of fresh air that the minister can learn from.

Chalk River Nuclear Facilities  Mr. Speaker, only that minister can take pride in the fact that Parliament has done his job. If he had done his job, we would not have had to rule on the matter in the House. The only action that the minister did was to fire the independent safety regulator. He fired her without providing cause.

Chalk River Nuclear Facilities  Mr. Speaker, in yet another example of one more ministerial incompetency, the natural resources minister has proved he is just as clueless as his cabinet colleagues. He was asleep at the switch leading up to the Chalk River fiasco. Here is what the Prime Minister said. “No actor is blameless in this affair”.

Chalk River Nuclear Facilities  Mr. Speaker, I have independent advice that this is not true. My question is for the Minister of Justice. It is clear that the government has deliberately been undermining the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. Incredibly, the justice department cutoff legal advice to the regulator on Monday, just before that act was introduced.

Chalk River Nuclear Facilities  Speaking of advice, Mr. Speaker, this week the Prime Minister cowardly attempted to undermine the credibility of the nuclear safety commissioner by accusing her of being a partisan hack, and the record shows she is not. Ironically, the Prime Minister decided to overrule an independent and credible commissioner by relying on the advice of the Durham Conservative Riding Association's vice-president.

Chalk River Nuclear Facilities  Mr. Speaker, last night, the House of Commons reluctantly passed an unprecedented law to cover for the incompetence of the Conservative government. The situation in Chalk River turned into a crisis after a year and a half of inaction. The government should have been aware of the potential impact by the nuclear reactor shutdown by AECL.

Chalk River Nuclear Facilities  Mr. Speaker, I noticed that the minister did not answer the question. I do not know what the problem is. Is it that he did not know of the problem or that he knew and did nothing? I wonder which is worse. In the last annual report, AECL did not report that it might have a problem with its licence.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. McGee, you said that you could have the safety case by Thursday. Is that correct?

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, I am not sure why we need this act then. Does AECL need this act for the reactor to start up as quickly as possible?

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. McGee, I think we could spend a lifetime arguing this point with you but I do not want to do that. I want to move forward. This is a very serious scenario and you are aware of the health consequences to Canadians. We need this safety case to be put together as quickly as possible.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, I would like to know from Mr. McGee when the reactor can be up and running, assuming the safety case were acceptable to the commission. I just want to have a visual understanding as to what day the reactor could be up and running if the safety case were submitted on Thursday.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, I need help. What we are saying is we really do not want to suspend the regulation, but at the same time we want the nuclear reactor to be up and running quickly. It sounds like it is just a matter of paperwork that is not being done. Why are we not getting that paperwork done quickly?

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  We are getting somewhere, Mr. Chair. By Thursday you can have the safety case completed and we are hearing from the commission that it will take a day or so to assess it and then another day to get the tribunal set up. Is it safe to assume that the commission has an idea? Apparently, AECL had submitted something that was incomplete so I am assuming that it should not take as long for the safety case to be examined since you have some of the information already available and all you need is some of the information that is missing.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, I have another question for the commission. Before I follow up on what I was asking, what kind of affect would this act have on our international obligations? The nuclear safety act says that one of the reasons the commission was established was for us to comply with a lot of international obligations and treaties.

An Act to permit the resumption and continuation of the operation of the National Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River  Mr. Chair, my question is for the AECL. If this act passes and this reactor is no longer under the regulation of the commission, will this have any impact on your insurance?