CLARK VOWS MORE RESCUE RESOURCES

Boat’s sinking puts spotlight on first responders

TOFINO, B.C. •As investigators begin the lengthy task of determining why Leviathan II capsized, killing at least five, Premier Christy Clark promised more search and rescue and medical resources for the waters off Vancouver Island.

“That’s part of the reason I’m here,” Clark said Tuesday, “to speak to the emergency responders and members of the community as to where they see gaps, where they need help.

“We want to be sure we learned everything we can from what happened here Sunday.”

Acutely aware of the growing international media attention focused on B.C.’s booming but fragile whalewatching industry, Clark offered what help she could to improve services to this richly tourism-dependent part of British Columbia.

The accident, which occurred Sunday off a reef on the west side of Vargas Island, has raised questions over whether the whalewatching industry and the maritime community is adequately prepared to deal with such incidents.

International attention is focusing on why the 21 tourists on board Leviathan II weren’t wearing life jackets — as the three crew members were — and on the record of the company, Jamie’s Whaling Station, which had a similar accident in the same location in 1998.

Clark flew into a town rapidly filling with television crews from the United Kingdom, United States and elsewhere in Canada that were eager to cover the accident, in which five British nationals were killed and one Australian man is still listed as missing.

The premier promised to speed up delivery of a helipad for the Tofino hospital, the only hospital on Vancouver Island without such a facility.

She said Emergency Services Minister Naomi Yamamoto will also offer more search and rescue training for those called out to help in marine rescues.

And she said she will also encourage Telus Corp. to speed up delivery of fibreoptic cellular service to the West Coast.

First Nations leaders in Ahousaht, a small island community that was largely responsible for the rescue of 21 victims after the Leviathan II capsized, have complained that they lack adequate cell service.

But Clark said whatever Ahousaht lacks, it made up Sunday with its heroism in rescuing the survivors.

“I would say based on what we saw on Sunday night the Ahousaht band didn’t miss a beat.

“They were as ready as they could be,” she said. “More lives would have been lost if it were not for the Ahousaht First Nation and those who stepped up.

“If they want more help and training, we will be there to give that to them.”

She said she’s nominating the rescuers from Tofino and Ahousaht as the first recipients of the new provincial citizenship awards program.

Clark said that while the little Tofino hospital appeared to deal well with the tragedy, the health ministry will do a review any need for more resources.

Clark said the province will co-operate with the federal Transportation Safety Board, which is conducting the first of what may be several investigations.

Marc-Andre Poisson, head of TSB’s maritime safety investigations, said it may take months to get to the bottom of why Leviathan II capsized. Five TSB investigators are in Tofino and began meeting with survivors and crew members from the wrecked ship.

RCMP divers conducted a second-day search for the last victim, also filming the wreck underwater.

The B.C. Coroner’s Service identified the five British nationals killed in the accident but has not yet indicated if it will conduct an inquest.

Dead are David Thomas, 50, and his 18-year-old son Stephen, from Swindon in southern England; Katie Taylor, 29, of Whistler, B.C.; Nigel Francis Hooker, 63, of Southampton, England; and Jack Slater, 76, of Toronto.

All were British nationals.

Slater’s wife Marjorie, and Thomas’ wife Julie were both on board the Leviathan and were injured when it capsized. Taylor was originally from Lichfield, Staffordshire, but had recently moved to Whistler.

Stephen Thomas had Down’s syndrome and was regarded as a talented photographer. Last year he won an international competition for people with Down’s syndrome for an image of Moraine Lake, Alta.

The elder Thomas was a managing architect at Microsoft Corp.

I WOULD SAY BASED ON WHAT WE SAW ON SUNDAY NIGHT THE AHOUSAHT BAND DIDN’T MISS A BEAT. THEY WERE AS READY AS THEY COULD BE. — B.C. PREMIER CHRISTY CLARK