Natural Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon. I am the chair and chief executive officer of the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, sometimes referred to as the C-NLOPB. I am joined by my colleague, Susan Gover, legal counsel with the board. It's a pleasure for u

Natural Resources committee  To reiterate, both the federal and provincial ministers are entitled to information or documents related to occupational health and safety. That's under the control of the board upon their request. The boards have discretionary power and responsibility to release health and safet

Natural Resources committee  I'll add that following the Wells report, the C-NLOPB clarified the role of the chief safety officer. The terms of reference for that position are available online. The board took further measures to separate the safety function within the board, consistent with recommendation

Natural Resources committee  The establishment of the advisory council, as you mentioned, does move the yardsticks forward in this regard as well.

Natural Resources committee  I don't have those concerns. I am aware that there are differing views concerning the idea of a separate safety agency. I want to underscore the importance of distinguishing independence in terms of the function as opposed to independence in terms of the board. The board is fier

Natural Resources committee  Sure. I think it's a matter of public record that the federal and provincial governments are still discussing that matter.

Natural Resources committee  There was fairly extensive consultation with the board with respect to the most recent suite of Transport Canada regulations. That work ended just a couple of weeks back. A fundamental point here, which you reference, is that the jurisdictional oversight of air transit does fall

Natural Resources committee  That decision is typically made by the helicopter operator or the operator who holds the authorization.

Natural Resources committee  Our authority in that regard.... If you think back, let's use the example of night flights. Judge Wells in the midst of his inquiry hit the pause button and came to the board and said, “I think we have a problem with respect to night flights. I think you should hit the time-out b

Natural Resources committee  The day-to-day responsibility rests with, in the case of the current regime, Cougar Helicopters and the operators.

Natural Resources committee  We would as soon as there was a safety or environmental concern.

Natural Resources committee  I see no specific problems with respect to the gulf. On the broader question of drilling or proposals to drill in the gulf, we're in the process of completing an update of the strategic environmental assessment looking at that part of the world, what we call western Newfoundland

Natural Resources committee  No. The authority that's been granted to us by the federal and provincial governments is in our Newfoundland and Labrador jurisdiction. It's for the activity in our offshore area, and that's where we issue our authorizations.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, that's a good answer. It puts into regulation a lot of the good practices and good working relationships that were done on a more ad hoc basis until now.

Natural Resources committee  Yes. First, you spoke to the hierarchy, as did your colleague, and the number of players and the complexity. When you hear offshore regulators and regulators of the industry in general talk about safety culture, that reflects the importance of all the players understanding and li