Back to the Vancouver area oil spill, I have to say that I was very disappointed that the Conservative members of this committee have decided to have the posture of cheerleaders when, although the coast guard members themselves are professional and responsible, it's this government's cuts to things like budgets and the Kits coast guard base that have led to a confusing and slow response, and a real failure. The residents of metro Vancouver are very concerned that safety and services are being compromised, yet their interests are not being defended at this committee by their members of Parliament. I find that very disappointing.
In addition to coast guard cuts, Transport Canada has cut its marine safety budget 37% since 2007. Environment Canada has transferred the local environmental emergencies office to Montreal. When the boaters called them, the first response was, “What province are you calling from?” These are all very concerning.
I'm going to conclude this part by saying the cuts to the Kits coast guard base were strongly objected to by the search and rescue network in Vancouver. There were 20 million human transits annually within a 30-minute response radius of that base. This is the first time in 100 years that Vancouver does not have a federal full-time marine life-saving station. It was a very bad decision. We're seeing some of the consequences of it today and the members should be holding their government to account.
I have a question about that. Compared with the 2013-14 estimates, how would the reduction of $6 million in expenditures for search and rescue services, and the decrease of $18 million in spending for environmental response services, affect the coast guard's ability to respond in a more timely effective way in the future?