Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I certainly recognize the fact that one shipping accident anywhere, whether it's the Arctic, the Great Lakes, particularly the St. Lawrence Seaway, Halifax, Vancouver, the B.C. coast, could negate any savings in a very short period of time, whether it's thr

Finance committee  I don't have a figure for the folks who left. Some retired and left the service. Some, quite frankly, just quit and left. Ultimately, at the end of the day, for every officer we're short, we're paying a salary at time and three-quarters—1.75—to replace them because of the short s

Finance committee  It's somewhere between 40 and 60. They're falling off all the time.

Finance committee  Absolutely. The decisions to consolidate were made by government and the Coast Guard. I'll give you a few examples. We had a centre that was fully functional and a new Coast Guard base being built in St. John's, Newfoundland. They closed that centre and moved it to Placentia, whi

Finance committee  I've been cautioned before to say it's a hell of a place to live, but it's challenging. Conversely, in Victoria, where a lot of those officers decided to remain, it's expensive. We closed Vancouver in 2015. The reason given by the commissioner in 2012 at the SCOFO was that it's h

Finance committee  Absolutely.

Finance committee  In the short term we have to hire more staff. We can't put through six officers on an English course. It's not sustainable. I have looked at the departures already this year just in the centre, and I can see right now six departures within the year. Those people have to come fro

Finance committee  Yes, it was $5.7 million.

Finance committee  The difficulty we are having with even realizing those savings right now is that more officers left....

Finance committee  I haven't seen that report. I haven't been privy to it. I can say, being involved with the Canadian Coast Guard for approximately 23 years, that your comments are well taken with regard to the cuts. Our union approached government in the nineties to help assist integration of t

Finance committee  When we're fully staffed it's around 294. Based on the last list I have, we're around 240, maybe a little fewer than that. There are some who are on long-term disability or leave without pay for such things as maternity leave, those types of things, or assignments, but we're shor

Finance committee  The financial ask is to increase the staffing factor at the centres.

Finance committee  Off the top of my head, I don't.

Finance committee  Good morning, Mr. Chairperson and committee members. My name is Allan Hughes. I am the president of Unifor Local 2182. I represent marine communications and traffic services officers across Canada. Our officers are responsible for detecting marine distress calls and regulating