The press communiqué of the government revealed that the Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister of State (Agriculture) announced to help the United States in its process of cleanup of oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It also states that the Government of Canada is providing offshore booms to assist with oil spill clean up efforts underway in the Gulf of Mexico.
Minister Shea said that as a global citizen everybody should come forward to meet the challenges of an environmental tragedy like the one in the Gulf of Mexico. She also said that Canada and the United States have a long-standing tradition of helping one another in times of need, and we stand ready to assist our American neighbours. The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) has examined its environmental response capacity and determined that it can assist the United States by providing at least 3,000 metres of ocean boom at this time, which is in addition to technical and scientific support already being provided by Canada.
Minister Blackburn opined that Canada is pleased to share our leading edge scientific and environmental response capability with a friend and neighbour in need. He informed that Canadian government has acted without delay to assist the United States and a number of Canadian federal departments or agencies have already provided considerable expertise and support to the cleanup efforts:
Upon USA’s request DFO sent a team of scientists from its Centre for Offshore Oil and Gas Environmental Research, headed by internationally recognized oil spill remediation expert Dr. Kenneth Lee, to assist U.S. officials with monitoring the effectiveness of their clean-up operations. Transport Canada and Environment Canada have been working closely together to provide aerial surveillance of the spill area to help determine the course and location of the oil, and to target cleanup operations.
