NDP says Tories in damage control over Kits Base closure
Posted June 26, 2012 1:46 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The NDP says the Tories are in damage control over the decision to close the Kitsilano Coast Guard Station. It comes as Ottawa is again defending the decision to shut it down.
Saying he’d never make a decision to put lives at risk, Fisheries and Oceans Minister Keith Ashfield held a round-table meeting with stakeholders hoping to clarify what he calls myths and misinformation around the station closure, and gather ideas on how to work around it. But again, there was no invite for Vancouver’s mayor, despite ongoing criticism over a lack of consultation.
“I didn’t know until late yesterday that the mayor [wanted to be involved],” he says. “It was too late for me to change the plans I had so I do apologize for that.”
Meanwhile, he insists Vancouver’s harbours will be well served. Ashfield says he wants to clarify the reorganization of Canada’s Marine Rescue Services. He points out the Regional Centre in Victoria is in charge of dispatching the first available resource, whether that’s the Coast Guard, volunteer services or Navy or military rescuers.
Ashfield believes Vancouver is very well served by Victoria and will continue to be.
He says what’s being reported in the media and by critics has been grossly over-blown.
Ashfield also announced $100,000 annually will be injected into the Royal Canadian Marine SAR. It’s a volunteer auxiliary unit that works out of Vancouver and assists the Coast Guard. He claims the volunteer unit has a faster response time than the Coast Guard.
The NDP’s Peter Julian doesn’t buy it, believing it’s comparable to axing a full-time fire department in favour of a volunteer department.
“They’ve made the cuts, they’ve put lives in jeopardy, now afterwards they’re saying we’ll do some consultation,” he says. “It’s simply an irresponsible and reckless approach.”
“Everybody believes safety will be compromised; everybody believes that a half hour additional response time will inevitably put lives at risk,” Julian adds. “British Columbians are right to have expected more than this … they have a right to be listened to.”
He says safety concerns are being tuned out but the Tories disagree, claiming they’re following a mandate of strict spending and economic recovery that Canadians voted for.
