Mr. Speaker, closing the Kitsilano search and rescue station will result in people dying. That is according to retired Coast Guard commanders, rescue volunteers and boaters.
This Vancouver Coast Guard base is the busiest in Canada. This year it has handled more than 70 life-and-death emergencies well before summer even started. Closing the Kitsilano base will increase Coast Guard response time by up to an hour.
To the minister, if he were capsized in the cold waters of English Bay, injured and needing rescue, would he still say that the Richmond base is close enough?