Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, that's accurate.

Natural Resources committee  I sat in on my first meeting in January. So I have attended a meeting.

Natural Resources committee  Not that I'm aware of, Mr. Chair.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, it is accurate that there is staff from CNSC on site at Chalk River. Certainly we had canvassed, both through independent experts as well as the CNSC staff itself, the fact that the reactor itself was as safe as it had been before the shutdown, and would in fact be safer with the connection of one safety pump hooked up to the emergency power system.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, I guess that is the question that we were working on attempting to resolve for a number of days as it became evident that this was going to create a very urgent health situation in the country. It is a matter of the licence of the AECL, and it is, I think, a point of disagreement between the two agencies.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, it's an important question. It's like the governance of any crown corporation. The board itself is responsible for setting the overall policy and plan for the corporation, the financial accountability of course, and for taking major decisions that relate to the overall commercial prospects of the corporation.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, I would say that you can make more of a contribution the more you know about the industry itself, although there are members of the board who bring in some very strong background from the financial sector, for instance, or from the corporate sector, and who perhaps bring in a different skill set to the board.

Natural Resources committee  I think it is a really important issue you raise about risk. This whole situation was about the management of risk. The protocol we have in place is with AECL, which runs the reactor. So the intent of the protocol is to ensure that when there is any shutdown of the reactor, planned or unplanned, we are immediately notified so that we, within the department and with our colleagues at Health Canada, can assess the risk.

Natural Resources committee  I'm not aware of that particular conference call, which I understand was led by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Perhaps Sue can comment on that.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, I can't recall that reference, but if it was in the question period transcripts, then I likely had seen it.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, I had advice prior to my appointment to AECL, but again I will reiterate that I provide advice to the minister. I am his principal advisor on all matters within his portfolio. In the role I played throughout the period of time, which was a role of trying to resolve an issue that was creating a very urgent health situation in the country, I don't believe I had any conflict of interest.

Natural Resources committee  Mr. Chair, the central agencies involved were very much aware of the formal call that was undertaken between the minister and the head of CNSC.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, I do mean the PCO, and I mean that we received advice from other areas as well.

Natural Resources committee  I just want to clarify, Mr. Chair, that it was not advice that we were seeking. The work that was undertaken to resolve a very urgent health situation in Canada was a strategy that was being developed day by day, so there were a number of individuals at PCO who were aware that we had been in touch with CNSC, that this type of communication on administrative matters was provided for under Canada's Nuclear Safety and Control Act, and that we intended to continue to be working away at trying to resolve this situation, which, as you know, was not able to be resolved.

Natural Resources committee  Thank you for the question. As I have mentioned, the only contact that MDS Nordion had with the department prior to the end of November was a reference made at a meeting on November 22. At that time the outage was characterized as being temporary and possibly extending into December.