Teleconference on draft questionnaires
When deemed useful by the Tribunal, investigative staff hold a teleconference with parties’ representatives to consult on drafts of the questionnaires to be used during the injury investigation. This teleconference will be held soon after the regular paper-based consultative process if any significant issue remains outstanding.
Notice of the teleconference will be given to parties by letter. The teleconference will be conducted entirely in public but may necessarily relate to protected information provided by parties during the written consultation process. Parties will be asked to refrain from discussing confidential information at the teleconference and should instead refer investigative staff to the particular document in which the information is contained. It is expected that the teleconference will last approximately one hour, but it may last longer in some cases. A transcript of the teleconference will be placed on the record of the Tribunal’s injury inquiry or expiry review proceedings.
During the teleconference, investigative staff will ask questions to clarify comments made during the written consultation process and to probe the rationale for these comments. Counsel will also be able to respond to each other’s questions and comments at this time.
The Tribunal will determine whether changes to the draft questionnaires are warranted.
Although investigative staff routinely consults parties on draft questionnaires for the purposes of injury inquiries, this practice has been infrequently used for expiry reviews. A teleconference may be useful in some expiry reviews to allow the investigative staff to determine whether there have been significant changes in the industry that could affect the drafting of the questionnaires.
Teleconference on the investigation report
A teleconference may also be held following distribution of the investigation report, if the Tribunal deems it useful to address any specific questions or issues that have been identified by a party.
The teleconference will generally take place within five days of the distribution of the investigation report. Notice of the teleconference will be provided in the Tribunal’s notice of commencement of inquiry or notice of expiry review, and specific details will be provided to counsel in advance. It is expected that the teleconference will last approximately one hour, but it may last longer in some cases.
Due to the nature of the information being discussed in this teleconference, it will be held entirely in camera. Accordingly, only counsel who have signed a confidentiality undertaking will be permitted to participate.
Considering that the Tribunal ascribes much value to the integrity of the investigation report, these teleconferences are not to be seen as an opportunity to remediate or otherwise enhance the information supplied by responding parties.
Following the teleconference, the Tribunal will direct that any necessary revisions or adjustments be made to the investigation report. A transcript of the teleconference will be placed on the record of the Tribunal’s injury inquiry or expiry review proceedings.