Natural Resources committee  Yes, we are an observer. We do have observer status with these conventions, and certainly they have influenced the development of legislation, as the minister indicated, in areas on the definition of nuclear damages and the liability limit. We would be interested in perhaps discu

Natural Resources committee  Good morning, my name is Dave McCauley. I'm the acting director for the uranium and radioactive waste division at Natural Resources Canada. We're responsible for the policy work and the development of the nuclear liability and compensation bill.

Natural Resources committee  Certainly. Thanks very much. The insurance market, under the existing legislation, is one in which we have a group of insurers who have been approved, first by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions as having the financial wherewithal to provide insurance to

Natural Resources committee  No, in fact what the legislation says is that the act is applicable to damages relating to a terrorist activity, and to the extent this may be terrorist activity associated with a nuclear fuel waste management location, it would also apply to damages associated with that. Nuclear

Natural Resources committee  No, I have nothing to add.

Natural Resources committee  That's correct.

Natural Resources committee  We haven't seen the letter that Westinghouse has provided to the committee.

Natural Resources committee  The act applies to damage in Canada and the exclusive economic zone. It does not apply to damage outside of the country unless it's under an agreement of reciprocity with that country. There would have to be some form of agreement between the Government of Canada and the neighbou

Natural Resources committee  In the event of an incident of the United States that causes damage in Canada, we would have access to the United States' courts and their fund for third party damages. Similarly, in the event of a Canadian accident with damages in the United States, their citizens would have acc

Natural Resources committee  If they were coming to Canada to make their claim, they would be claiming against the operator, because the courts are directed that.... Our legislation is the legislation that carries in this area, and the only liable entity is the operator.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, it is the court's decision as to who gets compensation. They would look to the legislation and what that directs.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, we do.

Natural Resources committee  We acknowledge that it exists. I would suggest that perhaps we would use this bill as the basis for looking at our relations with other countries in terms of liability, but we understood as we are developing this legislation that the reciprocity agreement exists today and is stil

Natural Resources committee  It would apply, for example, to an installation on the border or that has the possibility of causing damage in the United States. I believe the reciprocity agreement was entered into back in 1976 or thereabouts. Basically it ensured that U.S. victims would have access to the Ca

Natural Resources committee  I think the position of officials is that it would probably be worthwhile to look at that reciprocity agreement to see if it needs to be updated, and perhaps to examine as well our international exposure on nuclear liability and whether we might be entering into other agreements.