NUNAVUT - The federal government does not have a contingency plan in place for an oil spill in the Arctic, warns Yukon Liberal MP Larry Bagnell. This leaves local government officials and federal government critics wondering what would happen and how a spill would affect the environment and the fishing industry.

"Right now what we and other communities would be doing would be relying on the Coast Guard or the military for help," said Duncan Walker, senior administrative officer in Resolute.

On April 20, there was an explosion and fire aboard an oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and an undersea well is now leaking 210,000 gallons of oil a day. The spill is drifting towards the U.S. coastline and may affect the shorelines of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.

Drilling for oil in the Davis Strait off the western coast of Greenland will start this summer by U.K. company Cairn Energy, and Walker said a contingency plan is needed in the event of accident and spill that would affect Nunavut.

He and other officials in the region are waiting for mock oil spill training that will take place in Resolute this summer as part of the military's Operation Nanook. He said he hopes it will provide the community with more of an idea of what would happen if there were an oil spill.

In Ottawa during Question Period in the House of Commons on May 5, Bagnell asked the Conservative government if there is a contingency plan being developed in case there is a potential oil spill in the Arctic from a ship or drilling rig. Bagnell, the Liberal's critic for Arctic Issues and Northern Development, said he has raised the issue in committee for more than a year.

An answer to his question was again refused.

"I think the Louisiana spill has shocked everyone, including them (the Conservative government)," said Bagnell.

While the government may have been shocked, Bagnell said he got the impression from the government's response in the House that they do not seem too concerned about oil drilling in Greenland.

A spill caused by exploration and drilling in the Davis Strait would have a direct impact on the fishing industry in communities such Clyde River, Qikiqtarjuaq and Pond Inlet. Depending on the current, waters tarnished with oil could reach other communities including Resolute.

"Anything such as an oil spill would have an impact on seal, walrus, polar bears and the fish that they eat," said Walker.

He said depending on the scale of the spill, it could also affect the fishery.

Bagnell said the Conservatives seemed to argue an oil spill of such magnitude - referring to the spill in the Gulf of Mexico - could not happen in Canada because the standards are more strict. He said he believes this is not true. Equipment was on site to shut off the pipeline in the Gulf and it failed. In an ideal world, Bagnell said the spill should not have occurred. The same can be said for the Exxon Valdez spill in the late 1980s in Alaska when the tanker drifted aground and millions of litres of crude oil flowed into Prince William Sound.

"No matter how many precautions they (the companies) take, these things are not planned and it could happen under any circumstance," said Bagnell.

Walker said the hamlet does have oil spills kits in case of an emergency, but by no means does his community have boats such as those being seen on television assisting in handling the spill in the United States.

The government has "never really had to face this before and as time goes along they will have to take a more serious look at it," said Walker.