Shane Woodford | Email news tips to shane.woodford@corusent.com
5/25/2012
The Canadian Coast Guard says there has been a considerable amount of misinformation about the impact of the Kitsilano Coast Guard station closure.
Deputy Commissioner of Operations, Jody Thomas, disputes some of the statistics used by the union to highlight the importance of the base.
She says, on average, the soon-to-be closed base responds to around 200 search and rescue calls a year.
"Yes, there were nine calls over the weekend, but they could have been handled by other resources available in the Vancouver area. None were distress calls. There were no lives actually at stake."
As for the "broad consultation" Conservative MP James Moore has touted, Thomas admits the talks were with federal partners, like the Department of National Defence, and not with the province or municipalities.
The Union of Canadian Transportation Employees, which represents Coast Guard staff, is firing back.
Pacific region vice-president Dave Clark says claims from the Coast Guard over call-out numbers from are wrong.
"I do notice the first thing they said is that they admitted they didn't consult with anyone except for themselves. We actually underinflated our numbers. It is actually an average of 310 over the last five years. We provided those numbers. The number I heard from them was 200-ish. We are definite on our numbers."
Clark says auxiliary crews are needed, but as a backup, not as frontline emergency responders, who aren’t required to respond.
He wouldn't comment on the timing of the auxiliary announcing a name change Saturday.
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