Evidence of meeting #12 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chairman.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:45 p.m.
Conservative
October 3rd, 2006 / 12:45 p.m.
Conservative
James Lunney Conservative Nanaimo—Alberni, BC
First I'd like to echo the comments of Mr. Blais and Mr. Cummins about the fact that there's no enforcement or border security component. I hope we'll be thinking about expanding in that realm of operation.
Where I have a coast guard presence in Bamfield, for example, we know there's a lot of drug dealing in the area, and the RCMP are not really in a position.... It's a nasty situation there. I'm hoping we'll be moving in that direction.
My question comes out of your comment about the one MCTS centre, which was mentioned, Tofino, which happens to be Ucluelet, not Tofino. I know this base went through an era of least-cost analysis, and they really felt they were going to be eliminated. The department made the decision to sell off the six or seven government-owned houses—I'm not sure it was DFO—that the officers were living in, and they're gone. I know the strategic location of that base; we have fought for that for years. We hope it will be maintained in that location and that a creative way to deal with the housing will be found. I know the current officer in charge has to drive in from Port Alberni, which is an hour and a half drive each way.
12:45 p.m.
Commissioner, Canadian Coast Guard, As an Individual
If I left any impression that we were looking to get out of the station, that certainly wasn't what I intended to say. All I'm saying is that we've been approached, and we have these issues with employees. I understand they've suggested that one option might be to relocate. We certainly haven't taken any decisions, and obviously we would be looking at the range of possible options.
12:45 p.m.
Conservative
James Lunney Conservative Nanaimo—Alberni, BC
I hope relocating would be the last option; there has to be a way to deal with the housing. As we know, when Victoria had to shut down and Seattle shut down during the last earthquake, that particular base monitored all the vessel traffic coming into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. I would hate to see us concentrate on just one location for MCTS in an earthquake zone.
I leave that for advisement.
Thank you.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
I guess I can just take off the back of James's question about the MCTS in Tofino. We have a station as well at the Coast Guard College in Cape Breton. Do you see--and you've been involved in that file--any change in the requirement to provide service, other than at the station in Sydney?
12:50 p.m.
Commissioner, Canadian Coast Guard, As an Individual
At this point, I don't see any change in requirement. In fact the only issue I'm aware of with that station is they'd like a little more space.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
Yes.
In line with that, perhaps I could solicit a comment on the Canadian Coast Guard College. In your response to a question earlier from Mr. Stoffer, that you're going to find yourself in a bit of a spot in coming years, do you see a potential expansion at the Coast Guard College in Sydney?
12:50 p.m.
Commissioner, Canadian Coast Guard, As an Individual
I don't see a physical expansion of the college, but we certainly have already expanded significantly the number of cadets we're taking in. This year, I think we've recruited around 45 new cadets, which I think is significantly more than in the past number of years, and we're projecting having to intake close to 50 in each of the next three, four, or five years to keep up with our needs. So that's a very significant increase in the number of Canadian cadets.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
That is. The classes had tapered to 12 to 15 very recently.
I apologize to the committee if it's common knowledge among committee members, and with the fact that Mr. Cummins has already had an opportunity to question and he didn't pose the question of a backup vessel off Vancouver Airport, I would imagine that the issue has been addressed already.
What's the situation with the hovercraft?
12:50 p.m.
Commissioner, Canadian Coast Guard, As an Individual
Two or three years ago we did put in an interim measure, the refurbished hovercraft that is a backup there. Now, as part of the fleet renewal plan that I was discussing, we're looking at the options and the timing for a permanent solution, which ultimately will be a new ACV.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
What time period would you anticipate for that to unfold?
12:50 p.m.
Commissioner, Canadian Coast Guard, As an Individual
That's exactly what we're looking at now in assessing how long it's feasible to keep the interim arrangement in place, how feasible and dependable the backup one is. That's part of the analysis we're doing to determine when we need to replace it.
12:50 p.m.
Bloc
Gérard Asselin Bloc Manicouagan, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
As I understand it, the coast guard is the first to intervene in the case of a disaster or of an emergency. When we talk about an emergency, we’re talking about security.
The coast guard has a home port in Sept-Îles and in Havre-Saint-Pierre that are part of my riding. In Havre-Saint-Pierre, the port is seasonal. Fishermen prepare their boats before the fishing season and they’re out to sea around the 1st April. Coast guard personnel arrive three weeks later. The situation is similar to that of a town that would open its swimming pool and the lifeguards would arrive three weeks later.
Last year, I had to intervene; offshore activities were going on. The response time between Sept-Îles and Havre-Saint-Pierre is far too long. Some even go fishing towards Anticosti and Blanc-Sablon. That’s why the port is seasonal.
We ask that coast guard vessels and personnel be ready when the fishing boats go out at the beginning of April each year.
12:55 p.m.
Commissioner, Canadian Coast Guard, As an Individual
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I fully understood your question. We are under a certain amount of pressure concerning our level of service in various regions. We are studying these pressures. There are certain things at stake, particularly on the North shore. These are also part of the study on search and rescue that I mentioned previously.
It is difficult to give an answer when it comes to the question of level of service. I’ll attempt to do so while insisting that the advantage of an SOA is to be able to emphasize service delivery and create forums to discuss the level and cost of services with the industry and with the fishermen. This is what we are doing.
I know that there are many things at stake. We are studying the situation to see what can be done.
12:55 p.m.
Bloc
12:55 p.m.
Commissioner, Canadian Coast Guard, As an Individual
I hope to obtain the search and rescue study report in January.
12:55 p.m.
Bloc
Raynald Blais Bloc Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC
Do you plan, one way or another, to arm coast guard vessels and personnel?
12:55 p.m.
Commissioner, Canadian Coast Guard, As an Individual
I have no such plans.
12:55 p.m.
Commissioner, Canadian Coast Guard, As an Individual
No. I have never discussed this question until today because of its political nature. We now have 50 employees who have had the necessary training and who have been helping fishery officers in certain situations for 20 years now. The coast guard has some experience in this matter but it has neither plans nor discussions concerning the arming of coast guard vessels and personnel.
