Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
As my colleague said, we welcome you to the city, and we welcome the opportunity to appear today.
As my colleague stated, we are not here representing the City of St. John's. I'm here simply to put a personal face to the issue and, like others, to recommend that it's now time to make the improvements needed to provide increased search and rescue capabilities and institute them on a 24-7 basis.
I point out also that my council colleagues did support me when I presented a motion last year to write to all concerned to do a complete review of search and rescue capabilities with a view to establishing an additional SAR unit here in St. John's.
The personal issue with me is the fact that Allison Maher, who was the young lady lost in the Cougar crash, was a next door neighbour. She was a bright young lady with a great future and she was lost. After the crash, I got to know her family. They were devastated.
The hardest thing I've ever had to see was that they had to come out and clear out her house that she had bought just months before. Unfortunately, Mr. Maher, her father, still firmly believes that his daughter would have been saved or had a better chance of rescue had we had the necessary equipment and had we had the necessary response time, the improved response time that you have heard about, both here and in Gander.
Unfortunately, that day the dedicated search and rescue unit in Gander...all of the equipment was out of the province on a training session and that happened during the day of the Cougar crash. That left a backup unit supplied by Cougar here in St. John's. It is my understanding that this unit was at that time responding to emergencies as a backup to the Cormorants when the Cormorants weren't available. I also understand that the backup unit does have some capabilities. They did a really good job and I commend the people who went out that day, but they don't have the full capacity of the Cormorants.
It is also my understanding that the first on the scene of the crash was a fixed-wing aircraft owned by a local company and used to patrol the coastline. There were transmissions between that aircraft and the tower at St. John's airport. While I have not heard the tapes, Mr. Maher tells me he has—in fact, I think he was the only one allowed to hear the tapes—and he has come to the conclusion that his daughter was alive at the time they were there and that if there had been a quicker response the chances of survival would have been better.
So I would urge that this committee listen to the tapes, which are protected by the freedom of information act, I understand. Some media in the city asked for the transcript of the tapes and were refused. I would hope that when the Department of Transport report comes out next week, there will be some recognition of that, and maybe some point made about it.
As you've heard, one of the major recommendations to come out of the Ocean Ranger inquiry was the establishment of a fully equipped long-range search and rescue unit stationed at the nearest airport to the Grand Banks and our offshore. That should be here in St. John's.
The most recent Wells inquiry, as you heard today, made basically the same recommendation. There is no reason why the people who work on the sea in Newfoundland and Labrador cannot have search and rescue standards that are enjoyed by and are part of industry in other parts of the world.
Each year, tens of thousands of aircraft, fishing and cargo vessels, and offshore support vessels travel the waters of this province, which has the longest shoreline of any province in the country. At any given day during the summer, it is estimated that up to 5,000 vessels could be operating within 200 miles of our coast. This means that tens of thousands of family members can be affected.
At present, we have restricted hours at only two locations for DND helicopters. That's in Gander and Happy Valley-Goose Bay. They're only available, as you've heard, between 9 and 4:30, with a call-in system after hours and on weekends. That increased the response time significantly.
As an example, what kind of public outcry would there be if we had an ambulance service in Newfoundland and Labrador that was in only half a dozen locations in this large province and only worked from nine to five? What kind of outcry would there be if the St. John's Regional Fire Department worked between nine and five and you had to take your chances after five o'clock in the evening?
I also think we should face the fact that supplying offshore equipment and improving search and rescue in this province is a budgetary item. It's a budgetary issue, and it's time for the federal government and DND to come to the conclusion that the situation in this province is not acceptable and allot the necessary funding to make the required changes.
What price are we willing to say is too high for the lives of those who work in the offshore and those who make their living on the sea? If you ask the families, the answer would be “priceless”.
In my opinion, we are under-resourced in this province. Given the exceptional growth in our offshore industry and given the ongoing fishing industry, action should be taken immediately to provide more protection for those who work in the area. Our history shows that lives are always at stake. Money should not be an issue when you're making a decision to provide service.
In conclusion, it is my considered opinion that an additional unit here in St. John's, an enhanced response time of 24-7 in Gander, and fixed-wing aircraft in Gander--not in Greenwood, two and a half hours away--should be the recommendation of this committee.
The reason I feel very strongly about this is because it's the right thing to do.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.