Speaking Notes for Randy Kamp at the Announcement of Vancouver Location for New CCG Inshore Rescue Boat Station

Good morning and thank you for joining us today.

It is my pleasure to be here today on behalf of Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield to tell you that the Canadian Coast Guard’s new Inshore Rescue Boat station is being built right here at HMCS Discovery. The station will provide search and rescue services in the Vancouver Harbour and surrounding area, supplementing the robust SAR presence already here.

The new Inshore Rescue Boat station will begin service this spring. As with all such stations in the province, this facility will be open from the May long weekend until after Labour Day, to serve mariners during the peak season.

This is another important step in ensuring that our local waterways are safe and secure.

This site has been carefully chosen. It is a key location in Vancouver Harbour, which will allow the rescue boat to react quickly to emergencies during the busy boating season. Basing it here at the military facility will also enhance the potential for joint operations and collaboration with the Royal Canadian Navy.

Establishing the station here complements the recent decision by Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue to move one of its rescue vessels from Indian Arm to a location just west of the Second Narrows Bridge in Vancouver Harbour. These changes will improve response times and ensure that we are well equipped to deal with emergencies on the water.

The safety of mariners is the top priority of the Canadian Coast Guard. The new rescue boat station will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week during the peak operational season, to help ensure we continue to live up to our safety mandate.

With the addition of this facility, British Columbians can be assured that Vancouver harbour continues to have the most federally funded search and rescue assets of any harbour in Canada.

The inshore rescue boat program is an excellent search and rescue resource across Canada, with reaction and response times analogous to lifeboat stations. The program’s crews are called upon to respond to search and rescue incidents or distress incidents at any time, day or night. It is a job that comes with serious responsibility.

Each inshore rescue boat station is equipped with a Zodiac Hurricane Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat. The twin-engine, seven-metre boats are open, fast rescue craft which are used extensively at Coast Guard Lifeboat stations and on major Coast Guard ships. Their speed, design and shallow draft make them extremely effective platforms for the inshore rescue boat program and search and rescue in general.

The stations are staffed by experienced Coast Guard Rescue Specialists, who act as station Coxswains, and bring a wealth of knowledge and experience, including how to respond to a search and rescue incident safely and effectively, damage control training, advanced first aid skills and restricted visibility navigation.

Two additional crew members assist the Rescue Specialists and receive training in search and rescue as well as first aid.

Our government is continuing to make decisions that ensure the most effective use of search and rescue assets. The new inshore rescue boat station will benefit Vancouver-area mariners should they ever need them.

Combined with next year’s addition of a new hovercraft to serve the area, as well as our other search and rescue assets and partners, this region is well served.

The Canadian Coast Guard will have 7 large vessels, 6 small vessels, 2 hovercraft, 13 search and rescue lifeboats, and 6 helicopters available for deployment in British Columbia.

I am proud of our record in ensuring maritime safety here on the West Coast, and confident that Vancouver will continue to be well served by the Canadian Coast Guard.

Thank you.