Kits Coast Guard base closure

thats BS capt kook, the CG is more than willing to help ppl in need, whatever that need may be, i have nothing but good things to say about the CG...spend some time in Nootka and tell me that the CG doesnt help ppl......holmes*

For someone like yourself who is constantly beaking off about fishing illegally and a advocate and promoter of non compliance. I thought the last thing you would want or need would be a Coast guard boat around you.
 
And now we find out that the CG is going to build a new station for $6.5 million in some little cove in Newfie. This is totally bizarre!
 
And now we find out that the CG is going to build a new station for $6.5 million in some little cove in Newfie. This is totally bizarre!

Yup....close down the busiest in the country to save $700k and spend $6.6M to put a new one in Burin whose population is less than 2500. :rolleyes:

Despite it maybe being needed on the Burin Peninsula....it sure does make one wonder about who is at the controls based on the timing. I think it is a complete slap on the face to BC.

http://bc.ctvnews.ca/nfld-getting-new-coast-guard-base-as-b-c-s-closes-1.1166979

And...... http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/02/21/bc-coast-guard-jang.html

$6.6m investment
The federal Conservative government followed its controversial decision to close the Kitsilano Coast Guard station early by announcing a new and improved base for the town of Burin in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Burin is located at the southern tip of Newfoundland and has a population of 2,470.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced the new $6.6m base in a press release earlier today.

"The safety of mariners is a top priority of the Canadian Coast Guard," said Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Keith Ashfield in the release.

"As part of our ongoing efforts to upgrade and replace Coast Guard resources across Canada, this new facility will provide critical lifesaving search and rescue service for years to come."

The money earmarked for the project will allow for a new wharf and operations building at the 50-year-old facility.

News of the Kits Coast Guard closure came from Fisheries and Oceans Canada on Tuesday, in a notice to mariners that the station would no longer offer search and rescue services.

Closure of the station was initially announced last spring as part of budget cuts and drew widespread criticism.

The station was considered the busiest in Canada, responding to about 350 calls every year.

Search-and-rescue services will now be handled by the coast guard base at Sea Island, in Richmond, which is 17 nautical miles away.

The CBC contacted Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Keith Ashfield as well as seven other B.C. Conservative MPs, but all of them declined requests for interviews.
 
My understanding is that they are now going to man a large Zodiac and base it out of Coal Harbour at the little Navy base near Nine Oclock gun.

My gripe is not really the spending but more with too much red tape , over regulated policy's that are making them ineffective.
Many of us are still having a hard time to forgive them for not entering the over turned Cape Rouge and saving those kids , when they had divers right there.

Harper's government,s gripe is all about the spending.
 
For all of those who want someone in Ottawa (Fin Donelly) to continue to fight to keep the Kits coast guard station open please sign below. I know not everyone who wants to keep the station open supports the NDP but I couldn't find a petition on any of the conservative MPs websites ;)

http://petition.ndp.ca/savekits

Petition to the Government of Canada

We the undersigned recognize the following:

The Kitsilano Coast Guard Station is Canada’s busiest, responding to an average of 350 distress calls a year.
The next closest Coast Guard base is 17 nautical miles away.
Closing the Kitsilano Station will increase response times and increase the risk that lives will be lost.
Ottawa failed to consult with key stakeholders including emergency responders before closing the station on February 19, 2013.

Therefore, we call upon the Government of Canada to immediately re-open the Kitsilano Coast Guard Station.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Maybe--just maybe---the voices of NDP supporters are not heard as loud as Conservative supporters? The amount of forestry degradation, spawning area decimation, and sewage into the ocean seems to be the direct result of Provincial politics, so possibly the feds find the hypocrisy hard to comprehend???
 
just heard on the radio they've already started dismantling the Kits base.

Sadly one of the justifications used for closing Kits Base was that the auxillary Coast Gaurd people will pick up the calls. I personally know people in the auxillary and they are overweight middle age guys that go out training once in a while, if they get a call their response time is hours not minutes. Maybe if the volunteers quit the government will have no choice but to have proper stations in place. :mad:
 
Black max, don't know if I towed you in one or more times when I was a CMRA member,
but if I did, you didn't wait more the 10 minutes before we were under way. Some
are middle age but are all well trained and not all are overweight. ...........BB
 
Black max, don't know if I towed you in one or more times when I was a CMRA member,
but if I did, you didn't wait more the 10 minutes before we were under way. Some
are middle age but are all well trained and not all are overweight. ...........BB

I believe its now the Royal Canadian Marine Rescue Association, I have friends that volunteer and have attended many fundraisers throughout the years to support them. But lets be realistic, they do not have the same level of training as those that do it on a full time basis. Also how can they possibly leave their homes to get to the boat in time? I have been real lucky in over 30 plus years on the water to never have need a tow, been a few close calls though.
 
Well- if you check the curriculum of the Canadian Coast Guard College in Sidney, NS you will find that the role of the auxillary is quite different to a trained coast guard officer on a ship..rescue is a smal component of the coast guard mandate. By the way- if you run out of gas on the hiway or off road., the RCMP are not your first line of rescue or scource of a tow or fuel. I think that people expect things from the coast guard that are not in their job description.
 
Well- if you check the curriculum of the Canadian Coast Guard College in Sidney, NS you will find that the role of the auxillary is quite different to a trained coast guard officer on a ship..rescue is a smal component of the coast guard mandate. By the way- if you run out of gas on the hiway or off road., the RCMP are not your first line of rescue or scource of a tow or fuel. I think that people expect things from the coast guard that are not in their job description.


thats why if hailed for a pan pan call the coast guard would refer the hailer to c-tow,as long as no imminent danger.. makes sense to me...
but now what happens when it is a reel mayday, say in the second narrows... scary when the only response is going to be other unqualified responders just hearing the distress on 16.
 
There is an auxillary boat in Point Roberts Marina Washinton state, yes its Canadian and the members live in in the lower mailand. The members are required to be at the boat within a reasonable time. Lets say one lives in Ladner and a call came in of man overboard from JRCC in Esquimalt, how long to get to cross the border and get to the boat? Last year there was a call and it went terribly wrong at the border, luckilly they were only called to assist.
 
Well- if you check the curriculum of the Canadian Coast Guard College in Sidney, NS you will find that the role of the auxillary is quite different to a trained coast guard officer on a ship..rescue is a smal component of the coast guard mandate. By the way- if you run out of gas on the hiway or off road., the RCMP are not your first line of rescue or scource of a tow or fuel. I think that people expect things from the coast guard that are not in their job description.



I am not sure the RCMP and Car breakdown example is directly analogues to the Coast Guard and boats. In the vast majority of situations when a car breaks down there is no risk and it ends up safely on the side of the road. Things are often different on a windy, rocky high current coast where a vessel and even lives can quickly be lost if you break down in bad circumstances.
 
shocker! I'm sure we'll be hearing about many more incidents in the next few months... sadly some not resulting as favourably as the 2 described in the article above. Demco, when are you getting your boat in the water this season... or has the lack of coast guard station got you concerned? :)
 
shocker! I'm sure we'll be hearing about many more incidents in the next few months... sadly some not resulting as favourably

Thats a no brainer, the guys that rent the Sewells boats and scream around looking for little rock cods are due to pile up. I was trolling at Point Atkinson and was almost run over by a Sewells rental as they were looking behind , they only noticed me once they passed! I notice they say D.F.O. has yet to respond at the bottom of the article as Coast Guard is a separate entity and has been for 10 years. They only share the same infrastruture as D.F.O., in my opinion if someone does die as a result of Kits Base closure the people who made the decision should be held accountable and charged. Maybe then they will think twice about padding their pockets at the expensive of peoples lives.:mad:
 
Back
Top