Mr. Chairman, I know my colleague has to leave, but I do have a comment to put on the record.
My colleague represents the Gulf Islands. It must be difficult for him as he represents a community which lost five people in a tragic accident. I know he is not saying that the Coast Guard caused the accident. He is saying that an accident occurred and possibly the Coast Guard with a clear direction, the right mandate and proper resources may have saved a life or two. We do not know and we will never know.
Hopefully we can have an inquiry and get to the bottom of that situation. If and when an incident such as that ever happens again on the west coast or anywhere else, the men and women of the Coast Guard will have clear directions.
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is one of the busiest sea lanes on the entire planet. Nuclear submarines, commercial fishing vessels, recreational fishing vessels, oil tankers and military vessels go back and forth. Tofino is the ears and eyes for that seaway. When we were in Tofino they mentioned that they need $10 million more just to do the bare minimum of their job.
That is such an important commercial seaway. By the way, our United States cousins rely on us to be their ears and eyes and watch for them. Why would we in any way, shape or form even consider cutting in that type of area? It is simply unconscionable and unacceptable.
We had an incident with the Cap Rouge II . Imagine if a nuclear submarine hit an oil tanker because there were not the proper resources to warn the two of a possible collision. I do not want to be around the day an incident like that happens, and it very well could happen. We need to give the people at the MCTS centre in Tofino everything at their disposal to ensure they have every single tool and opportunity and trained personnel to do the job.