Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from a number residents in my riding and surrounding ridings who are calling on the government to reverse its decision to close the Newfoundland and Labrador marine rescue coordinating centre in St. John's and reinstate its staff and services. They oppose the decision to close it. They want the government to acknowledge that the closure would mean service would suffer and lives would be at risk.
The petitioners emphasize that the St. John's rescue coordination centre staff have a unique knowledge of the area of ocean and coastline. They also have a unique knowledge of the people who are engaged in activity on the ocean, particularly the fisher persons and crews, dialect and language, and locations. Their unique knowledge is extremely important to the efficacy and safety provided by that marine services coordination centre.