COAST GUARD BACKLASH
Thousands sign petition to protest against planned closure of Comox marine communications centre
Ucluelet fisherman Dan Edwards, caught in a severe storm last August, says a warning from a forecasting centre at Prince Rupert came too late.
Ucluelet fisherman Dan Edwards blames cutbacks to the Canadian Coast Guard for his ordeal at sea in a “violent” storm last year that he said “could have cost lives.”
“It was nasty,” said Edwards, 65, who was aboard the Helen II off Vancouver Island on the night of Aug. 28 when 102 km/h winds hit. They were part of the worst storm to hit southwestern B.C. in a decade; more than 500,000 people in Metro Vancouver were left without power.
Coast guard reductions in B.C. have resulted in more than 16,000 people signing a petition that targets the impending closure of a Marine Communications and Traffic Services centre in Comox May 10.
Critics say other cutbacks include reducing the number of communication centres on the West Coast from five to two and a reduction in the national MCTS budget from $49 million to $42 million.
They say the cuts would mean the West Coast would have just two of Canada’s 11 communication centres.
The Comox closure is being reviewed by a parliamentary committee of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans even as coast guard management gets set to shutter the doors in a few days.
Western region coast guard superintendent Brian Bain told the parliamentary committee that five “safety” positions on B.C.’s coast which are staffed 24-7 will be reduced to four. The number of supervisors will also be cut.
Communication centres in Vancouver and Tofino closed last year; their duties were “consolidated” into two super-centres in Victoria and Prince Rupert.
Coast guard commissioner Jody Thomas told the parliamentary committee there have been “no changes in service to mariners.”
“Have we had technical issues? Yes, absolutely … but we have found solutions. The consolidation is being done very safely,” Thomas said. “We have systems that are not only more reliable, but more flexible and adaptable.”
Edwards said weather reports from Prince Rupert — where forecasting duties were transferred after the Tofino closure — were closely monitored Aug. 27 while the Helen II was at sea.
“There was no mention of a storm, just that there would be a strong wind. We drifted that night, hoping the Canadian forecast was right.
“What was not being reported was a low-pressure system was tracking directly into the Oregon coast. By the time they put out the warning in Prince Rupert, it was on us. We spent six hours battling the storm into Ucluelet,” he said.
“My sense was that the personnel doing the reporting in Prince Rupert didn’t understand the northern end of American storms hitting Canadian waters. This lack of understanding could have cost our lives.”
He later found out American fishermen received the warning in time.
The radio centres provide nautical 911 services and give out warnings for gales, tsunamis and pollution incidents. At-sea capabilities are handled elsewhere in the coast guard and are not affected.
Scott Hodge, one of the 18 employees at Comox, said the cutbacks mean fewer people will be listening to the dozens of radio frequencies that monitor boats as small as a single kayak.
“My biggest concern is that there’s going to be a communications failure and somebody’s going to die,” said Hodge, a union vice-president who is campaigning to save jobs.
The Comox building is situated on a cliff overlooking the Inland Passage, where a million cruise ship passengers transit through a 700-metre channel each year.
Comox staff say the area is known for spectacular whitecaps, tricky whirlpools and confusing place names such as Hole-in-the-Wall, Twin Islands and God’s Pocket.
“There are actually two places named Twin Islands and God’s Pocket,” Hodge said. “You can only have so much knowledge and monitor so many things at one time.”
Thomas said new people will be trained in the local knowledge that is required.
“That’s what we do everywhere we hire new employees,” she said.
The coast guard is going ahead with its long-standing closure plan despite the parliamentary committee’s upcoming recommendations on the matter. About half the Comox employees are preparing to accept $50,000 payments to relocate to Victoria. Hodge said the fight is not over. “It’s not a done deal until the place shuts down,” he said.
The public outcry isn’t the first against West Coast cutbacks. The closure of the Kits ila no Coast Guard Stationin Vancouver by Stephen Harper’ s Conservative government became an issue in last fall’s federal election. The station reopened recently, because of a Liberal campaign promise.