Mr. Speaker, internal Coast Guard documents reveal that the Coast Guard station at Vancouver airport was out of service on May 22 of this year. All its search and rescue craft were down. Lives were at risk.
The base provides rescue coverage for crashes on the tidal flats surrounding the airport. Its job is to coordinate the rescue of hundreds of passengers who might be involved in a crash, to take life rafts to the crash site and to pick up survivors.
On May 22 the Coast Guard advised the Rescue Co-ordination Centre and the Vancouver airport that the base was out of service, its vessels inoperable and advised them to find commercial helicopters to ferry life rafts to the site of any possible crash.
Since October 4 there has only been one hovercraft in B.C. That means that the airport is now regularly left unprotected as the remaining hovercraft is out of service for routine inspection and maintenance.
The Vancouver Airport is left with third world emergency rescue coverage. Shame.