Natural Resources committee  I'm assuming that, when you say “since Sable Island”, you mean after the last offshore land sale.

Natural Resources committee  To my knowledge, industry has not put forward any additional land parcels.

Natural Resources committee  It certainly caused us concern and still does. On this project—while not cancelled outright—there is a three-year delay. Any time there is a delay when it comes to new developments, especially for offshore Newfoundland and Labrador, it means a delay in economic benefits that can come from our industry.

Natural Resources committee  Yes, certainly. I know that the governments of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia are trying to diversify their economies for such time as when oil and gas, especially in Newfoundland and Labrador, may no longer be bringing in the benefits or revenues that it brings in now, but our industry still believes in the prospectivity of the offshore, still believes in investment opportunities and, hopefully, will invest there for the foreseeable future.

Natural Resources committee  Most definitely. I've had the opportunity to visit the Argentia construction facility that's now constructing the west white rose project, and the labourers involved in that are doing an excellent job. Many of the skills being used to construct that offshore facility I'm sure can be transferable to other renewable sectors.

Natural Resources committee  Sure. Thank you. As I mentioned in my comments, most of this bill is directed towards the renewable sector side of the industry, so we're not opposed to the bill. We have some clauses of the bill that we would like to propose some improvements or amendments to, to make the bill even clearer and more predictable for our industry.

Natural Resources committee  Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to provide comments related to Bill C-49. As the chair mentioned, my name is Paul Barnes, and I am director of Atlantic Canada and Arctic with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers or CAPP. I am based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Environment committee  Thank you. I'll try to answer the questions there. On the first one with respect to whether the new bill recognizes the offshore petroleum boards, there is some recognition for the boards, both boards, when it comes to the review panel, but in some other aspects of the act, there isn't.

Fisheries committee  I would agree as well that the Canadian government should look after its country, obviously, by keeping an eye on the international scene, because as a country we do compete with other international jurisdictions. We need to be cognizant of that, but we certainly do need to protect our own country.

Fisheries committee  Typically, in the offshore industry it takes about 10 years to do adequate exploration, and that's everything from seismic to understanding where an oil and gas prospect may be to actually drilling it. If you're lucky enough within that 10-year period to find something, it usually takes another five to maybe 10 years to build a facility in order to produce the oil and gas that may be there.

Fisheries committee  Certainly I don't have any exact statistics with me here. There have been some hydrocarbon spills into the ocean off Newfoundland. The government...and the Offshore Petroleum Board, which regulates our industry, do have that information. It's published on their public website, so it can be readily obtained if you're looking for exact numbers.

Fisheries committee  I am familiar with that provision. It will have an impact of course if there is an oil and gas company that has a licence in a proposed MPA area and that licence is revoked. The legislation though also contemplates that licence-holders will be compensated if indeed their licence is taken away.

Fisheries committee  It's good and bad. It's good in a sense that it's in there that if the government wants to take away a licence, the licence owner is compensated. It's bad in the sense that it does send a bit of a negative signal to international investors, because the oil and gas companies come to Canada largely when they're offshore oil and gas companies, they're international players.

Fisheries committee  As I said in my remarks, in the Atlantic Canada region, we employ more than 9,000 people directly and tens of thousands more indirectly. The industry has brought significant benefits, and it's most active at the moment in Newfoundland's offshore. Until recently, 30% of the gross domestic product in Newfoundland and 30% of Newfoundland's budget came from royalties associated with the oil and gas industry.

Fisheries committee  Yes, we've been an active participant in a variety of stakeholder groups, as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans leads the marine protected area development. I personally have been involved in the Laurentian Channel MPA in Newfoundland, two in Nova Scotia, and one in the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic.