Ottawa

The quiet cuts

The Vancouver Province obtains an internal memo detailing concerns about the closure of the coast guard base in Kitsilano, BC.

The email is dated July 17, 2012 and is purported to be from maritime coordinators of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria to their bosses …  “We, the Maritime Coordinators of JRCC Victoria, object to the proposed closure of the Kitsilano Coast Guard Base (Kits) as there was no consultation with any of the SAR [search and rescue] at JRCC Victoria, Sea Island or Kitsilano,” reads the opening of the email. “Closing Kits will endanger the lives of mariners.”

A related email, also dated July 17, systematically tears apart statements made on government websites about the closure of Kits. “These websites are misleading to the public to the extent that they are incorrect,” reads the second email, pointing to such flaws as comparisons between Vancouver harbour and much smaller jurisdictions in Halifax and Montreal, along with misleading response times for Kits and the regular unavailability of the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue volunteers that are supposed to replace Kits.

Conservative MP James Lunney was moved to complain about the cuts in June.

See previously: The quiet cuts

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