Natural Resources committee  We're responsible for ship-source pollution. When there are incidents, normally they are dealt with by our regional coast guard people. If they see that they need more equipment, depending on the spill, then they will look for maybe the ROs, the response organizations, to help th

Natural Resources committee  Yes, they would be, because they would be there. They would know first, but before we intervene, it would be the polluter who would intervene and kickstart the intervention. We would be the federal monitoring officers. We would make sure that they're doing the right thing. By doi

Natural Resources committee  In the Atlantic region the response organizations have to be prepared for a spill of a magnitude of 10,000 tonnes. After that, the coast guard would kick in with more equipment. The four response organizations told Transport Canada recently that among themselves, with all their c

Natural Resources committee  It depends on the equipment. It's hard to say. It has to be trucked or sent by air, so it really depends on what you're asking for. If it's for booms and so on, I'd say they should be on site within 48 hours.

Natural Resources committee  Transport Canada is the lead agency responsible for the oil spill preparedness and response regime. It's also responsible for legislation for ships, especially tankers. They would be the authority to answer your question in detail. We are working with them. We are taking every p

Natural Resources committee  I'm just going to check my notes. The Canadian Coast Guard has over 80 equipment depots across the country—

Natural Resources committee  —and we have 6,385 metres of offshore boom, of which we lent 3,000 metres. That's only the offshore boom. We also have all kinds of coastal booms, up to 85,645 metres of boom.

Natural Resources committee  No, more than that, 90-some kilometres.

Natural Resources committee  Well, we identify risks, and we have national, regional, and area plans, and those outline the need for response in the country.

Natural Resources committee  Can you get oil out of ice?

Natural Resources committee  I think we have over 1,500 spills that we respond to yearly. They're not all major. Actually, they're--

Natural Resources committee  That would be a difficult one to....

Natural Resources committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for inviting me to discuss the Canadian Coast Guard's readiness to assist in marine pollution incidents related to offshore oil and gas drilling. Legislative changes to the Canada Shipping Act in 1993 resulted in the establishment of Canada's mar

National Defence committee  Concerning the LRIT, this is a global system sponsored by the IMO whereby all ships weighing 300 tonnes or more—and these are not small ships, they are large ships—must report via Inmarsat, which is a satellite system. In the Arctic, they will report to the North. This year, we w

National Defence committee  Just to say that the Louis S. St-Laurent is definitely the oldest vessel and that it must be replaced, and that is what we will do. The other icebreakers, although they are fairly old, are still in fairly good condition. I'm talking about the R class and the Henry Larsen.