National Defence committee  No, we're an emergency preparedness company. We write emergency response plans for our clients--the oil and gas industry, the marine industry, the aviation industry, etc.--with regard to how they plan to manage their emergencies offshore, at sea, on board ship, and on land. That'

National Defence committee  From my perspective, it's simple. The intention of search and rescue times is to save lives, and the intention of those resources is to save lives. Canada's two-hour response is the longest in the world, as far as I know. In my opinion, it is grossly where it shouldn't be. We s

National Defence committee  I think we first have to clear up that there are different types of responses in different countries. In the U.K., there are four levels of response. Her Majesty's Coastguard has the primary responsibility for all search and rescue, much the same as the Department of National D

National Defence committee  I have two responses. First, the private element involved is from a contracting point of view; in other words, the federal government contracts a service out to Bond Offshore Helicopters or somebody like that. The second response is that a country like Australia has a warm climat

National Defence committee  The Royal Air Force wheels-up time is 15 minutes, but it is up to 45 minutes in the evening. In Norway, it is 15 minutes by day and night. The assets are located physically offshore at or near the installations, so they can be there very quickly. The federal resources in Norway a

National Defence committee  Okay. I'll go through the physical response times very quickly, but again, bear in mind the points I made. In Australia, as an example, search and rescue is governed, as in most countries, by the Department of Defence or the federal government. They have the mandate to respond,

National Defence committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman and committee, for inviting us today. I'm not as well known, obviously, as Mr. Wells, so I'll give you a 30-second brief history of who I am and what we do. My name is Paul Clay. I have a company called Seacom International, and we're an emergency prepar