Mr. Speaker, I am glad to speak again about important Coast Guard radio service for our Great Lakes. As we know, in May of this year the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans announced cuts to the Coast Guard. It was a reckless move that would close nearly half of Canada's marine communications and traffic services centres, as well as the Kitsilano search and rescue centre just a year after the closure of the Quebec City and St. John's search and rescue centres.
One of the communications centres set to be mothballed is in Thunder Bay. The government claims it is a move to modernize marine communications, but boaters are concerned for their safety under the new system. The union that serves the Coast Guard employees also has misgivings about safety based on the increased workload that will fall on the shoulders of operators at the already busy Sarnia station.
As the cuts were announced, social media campaigns began and messages started coming in. One of those was from Paul Morralee of Thunder Bay. He shared the story of his 2,000 kilometre journey this past summer on the waters of Ontario. He wrote the following:
People shake in fear when I tell them about crossing Lake Superior, moving along the North Channel or venturing around Georgian Bay, single handedly in my old wooden boat, but, I have an ace up my sleeve. I have Thunder Bay Coast Guard Radio ready to respond to my needs in an urgent situation. They know the area, they know the waters, and they know how to respond. How do I know? Because, they have helped me out on three occasions.
He brings perspective and experience to the debate and further stated:
Save Thunder Bay Coast Guard Radio, by doing what is right and continue the service that is currently being provided.
At the same time, there was a letter to the editor signed by Peter Fraser, regional representative of CAW local 2182 that was published in The Algoma News. It lays out the facts fairly well. Mr. Fraser explained the station in Thunder Bay covered Lake Winnipeg, Lake Superior, the St. Mary's River, the North Channel and all of Georgian Bay and northern Lake Huron to about Port Elgin. It has operators on duty monitoring the maritime VHF emergency channels. During the summer months, two and sometimes three operators are on duty 24 hours a day, every day.
In 2011-12, the Thunder Bay station alone responded to 391 incidents, with 274 occurring during the summer months of June, July and August. These ranged from calls for assistance from a vessel in trouble to events that required search and rescue assistance from Trenton.
That sounds like a system that is working for boaters, but after July 2014 Thunder Bay Coast Guard Radio will be gone and its duties will be transferred to Sarnia with no additional staff being added to help with the extra work. This will all be done on new communication consoles that have yet to be constructed and certainly have not been tested. It is a theoretical solution to something that was not a problem. It places the lives of boaters in jeopardy for a cost-cutting measure. That is what this really is, make no mistake.
The move will replace the old consoles that use time-tested manual switches and untested computerized touch screens. It is important that everyone understands we are walking away from a good system that saves lives to an untested one just to save a few bucks. New Democrats know that is wrong. The savings are not worth the risk.
Two people can do only so much. Will the government reconsider the closure of the Thunder Bay Marine Communications and Traffic Services Centre?