Deadly distress call re-opens debate

Sushihunter

Sushihunter

Active Member
Yup sent a email to the new Minister of Religious Freedoms, reply back is he would pray for him.
 
Safety needs to be #1 priority here. Any amount of money to save one life is worth it

Side note Scott McLean was on my floor in first yr Rez. Just moved out to bc a month ago from Toronto. Best bud of mine.
 
get after him then Dave..... being from back east , I am sure he has no real idea how pissed off BC boaters are.
 
gimme a break! how come the entire Victoria area can survive for 30 years without a Coast Guard and Vancouver wants to have a ambulance on every dock? Most people that comment on the "Coast Guard issue" don't even have a real idea of what they do.The whole organization needs to be completely ripped apart and put back together in a way that makes sense to taxpayers and boaters. 99% of what you read on the issue is union tripe.

beemer
 
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beemer said:
gimme a break! how come the entire Victoria area can survive for 30 years without a Coast Guard and Vancouver wants to have a ambulance on every dock? Most people that comment on the "Coast Guard issue" don't even have a real idea of what they do.The whole organization needs to be completely ripped apart and put back together in a way that makes sense to taxpayers and boaters. 99% of what you read on the issue is union tripe.

beemer
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The fact that we have pis poor Coast Guard coverage in JDF is an illogical argument for closing down the highest demand rescue station in the country. It is, however, a good argument for increasing coverage for Victoria and JDF. This is not to say you are incorrect about the need for some restructuring, as in less administration and more boats on the water.
 
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Rockfish said:
The fact that we have pis poor Coast Guard coverage in JDF is an illogical argument for closing down the highest demand rescue station in the country. It is, however, a good argument for increasing coverage for Victoria and JDF. This is not to say you are incorrect about the need for some restructuring, as in less administration and more boats on the water.
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hi Rockfish , The stats for the Kits base are completely manafactured by the Coast Guard union. Of the 310 "distress" calls that were claimed by the Coast Guard less than 10 were actual distress calls . All , yes all, were attended to by "on the water boaters" and the Coast Guard were second on the scene.

The canadian taxpayer is very tired of putting up money for duplication of services . On the water we foot the bill for the Canadian Navy , Naval Reserve , RCMP Marine , Municipal Marine Police , Port Police , Transport Canada Marine , Coast Guard , and the Coast Guard Auxiliary (RCMSAR) . All of the agencies burn millions (billions?) of dollars chasing less than 100 genuine Search and Rescue cases a year in British Columbia. It is time for a different system.

beemer
 
beemer said:
hi Rockfish , The stats for the Kits base are completely manafactured by the Coast Guard union. Of the 310 "distress" calls that were claimed by the Coast Guard less than 10 were actual distress calls . All , yes all, were attended to by "on the water boaters" and the Coast Guard were second on the scene.

The canadian taxpayer is very tired of putting up money for duplication of services . On the water we foot the bill for the Canadian Navy , Naval Reserve , RCMP Marine , Municipal Marine Police , Port Police , Transport Canada Marine , Coast Guard , and the Coast Guard Auxiliary (RCMSAR) . All of the agencies burn millions (billions?) of dollars chasing less than 100 genuine Search and Rescue cases a year in British Columbia. It is time for a different system.

beemer
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Hi Beemer, I suspect that what constitutes an actual emergency will depend on who is doing the defining and the stats. and what their agenda is.

One of my favorite quotes is. “There are lies, dame lies and then there’s statistics”.

What are you referring to when you say a different system? Do you mean a privatized corporate service delivery model with an expanded role for companies that may already be supplying some marine emergency services?

Not sure how I feel about the corporatization of paramilitary roles and responsibilities or the privatization or rescue services done on the cheap to maximize profits like highway maintenance and snow removal. As for the amalgamation of Military, Coast Guard, Rescue and Police functions under the banner of efficiency, there may just be a few problems with that from a constitutional, accountability and democratic freedoms perspective. Not to mention that while there may be some overlap these agencies have distinct roles and responsibilities.

Perhaps you want to redirect or reduce spending in these areas of government service. Not something I suspect our current federal government with its pro law and order, more prisons and planned multi-billion dollar military expenditures is likely to jump all over; at least when it comes to the Military and Police.

I can think of worse things to spend money on than maintaining our Coast Guard and marine rescue services.
 
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Rockfish said:
Hi Beemer, I suspect that what constitutes an actual emergency will depend on who is doing the defining and the stats. and what their agenda is.

One of my favorite quotes is. “There are lies, dame lies and then there’s statistics”.

What are you referring to when you say a different system? Do you mean a privatized corporate service delivery model with an expanded role for companies that may already be supplying some marine emergency services?

Not sure how I feel about the corporatization of paramilitary roles and responsibilities or the privatization or rescue services done on the cheap to maximize profits like highway maintenance and snow removal. As for the amalgamation of Military, Coast Guard, Rescue and Police functions under the banner of efficiency, there may just be a few problems with that from a constitutional, accountability and democratic freedoms perspective. Not to mention that while there may be some overlap these agencies have distinct roles and responsibilities.

Perhaps you want to redirect or reduce spending in these areas of government service. Not something I suspect our current federal government with its pro law and order, more prisons and planned multi-billion dollar military expenditures is likely to jump all over; at least when it comes to the Military and Police.

I can think of worse things to spend money on than maintaining our Coast Guard and marine rescue services.
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Hi Rockfish , you won't get any argument on me on the misuse of stats. Unfortunatly we used to have a press that would dig into the issues and get the truth ,but sadly that does not exist anymore.

When I talk about "real emergencies" I use the definition of Mayday and PanPan as used by the Canadian Coast Guard " a search and rescue incident where there is a reasonable certainty that one or more individuals are threatened by grave and imminent danger and require immediate assistance. (Détresse)"
Events that fall ouside that parameter are the boaters responsibility (that is why we have insurance). lets face it ,all the out of gas, I need a tow , I hit a rock calls that you hear are not life threatening yet there seems to be a expectation that the "Coast Guard" will take care of it. The Coast Guard Union structure will happily turn your "out of gas" call into a full on distress if it keeps its members working.

The move to using "corporate" entities in Search and Rescue is well established in Canada. You do not have to look further than North Shore Mountain Rescue , and RCMSAR , formally the Coast Guard Auxiliary both of these corporations (yes corporations) recieve little government funding and do a excellent job with the amount of money that they recieve.

The Coast Guard is a behemoth of a money eating machine that provides little or no services on our coast for the money that we pour into it. If "privatizing" is the only way that we can get actual services for the money we spend then bring it on.

beemer
 
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