Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Cardigan for his intervention on this matter. I am sorry to say that he got many of his facts wrong. I do not have the time to correct all of them, but let me comment on the two major issues he raised.
With respect to the reorganization of the Canadian Coast Guard search and rescue resources and the consolidation efforts in St. John's and Quebec City, I have spoken on this several times. I just want to reiterate that our government would not make a change to search and rescue resources that would jeopardize safety.
The consolidation of the marine rescue coordinators into the joint rescue coordination centres in Trenton and Halifax will not change the quality of service provided in coordinating rescues on the water, or the number of resources available to provide response capacity in the waters off Newfoundland and Labrador, and Quebec.
The decision to consolidate the rescue sub-centres in St. John's and Quebec City with the joint rescue coordination centres in Halifax and Trenton resulted from the Government of Canada's strategic review exercise, which provided us with the opportunity to streamline programs and the way services are delivered to Canadians. It was determined that search and rescue coordination services could be delivered in a more efficient and effective manner, with no impact on service delivery or safety. This process ensures that the tax dollars of hard-working Canadians are used in the most efficient way possible, which Canadians demand of us.
The marine rescue sub-centre in St. John's was successfully consolidated into the joint rescue centre in Halifax earlier this year. Our highly trained coordinators will continue to be available to coordinate rescues on a 24/7 basis. As with St. John's, we will continue to commit to not closing the sub-centre in Quebec and consolidating its responsibilities into the joint rescue coordination centre in Trenton until safety can be assured and we know that we can continue to provide the same level of service in both official languages.
Regarding the decision to close the Kitsilano station, we know that a safety gap will not be created, as multiple resources will continue to provide search and rescue support. The Coast Guard, the volunteers of the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue, the Canadian Forces and other local responders will all continue to be available to serve the area for maritime distress calls.
In addition to this, a new in-shore rescue boat station will be established in the Vancouver area and will be available to respond to incidents in the busy summer period. As well, the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue will be increasing its response capacity in the Vancouver area.
We also know that the Coast Guard hovercraft at Sea Island has the capacity to support additional search and rescue calls. In 2011, the Sea Island hovercraft spent only 4% of its available time on search and rescue services, including time to and from incidents. Therefore, we certainly think there is more capacity there as well.
The Coast Guard remains confident that the current level of service will be maintained after the reorganization of resources is complete, and it will continue to effectively support maritime safety in the Vancouver area, as well as the rest of Canada, by coordinating responses to maritime search and rescue incidents using all available resources.