Mackay gives boost to search and rescue

Money to come from savings by downsizing Challenger fleet

OTTAWA— The federal government is taking steps to improve Canada’s search-and-rescue abilities and expects to clip the wings of its fleet of VIP Challenger jets to pay for the changes. Defence Minister Peter MacKay confirmed Thursday he wants to downsize the Challenger fleet and use the savings to boost front-line rescue capabilities that have been under fire this week. “It’s my belief we can do with fewer Challengers and I’ve made that clear,” MacKay said in an interview. “That could be money reinvested specifically into search and rescue.” MacKay made the comments after earlier announcing changes to boost rescue readiness and response and hinted at bigger changes and investments to come. The measures announced Thursday include investments in new satellite technology that when operational, will better detect emergency beacons. MacKay is also “encouraging” rescue crews to work flexible hours during times of high demand, like fishing seasons. As well, the government has launched an extensive review of the country’s search-and-rescue network that includes not just the military, but the RCMP, the Canadian Coast Guard and provincial and municipal police forces. Expected to be completed by year’s end, that review could prompt further changes and investments, MacKay said. “I think these are substantive steps that we have taken today, but they’re not the only steps that will be taken,” the minister said.

Still, the measures failed to impress observers who say more ambitious investments are needed to tackle the list of problems with search and rescue outlined earlier in the week by the auditor general.

Academic Michael Byers called it a “pretty empty” announcement, suggesting some of the changes, like the change in readiness hours, seemed administrative.

He questioned why the military isn’t taking steps to ensure a 30minute readiness around the clock, instead of just during the day.

“Why don’t we actually have the personnel and equipment to be extending . . . to 24 hours?” asked Byers, a professor at the University of British Columbia.

The announcement was silent on the one big concern flagged by the auditor general — the age of the Buffalo and Hercules aircraft that are the backbone of the rescue responses.

A program underway since 2002 to replace both aircraft with a single new rescue plane has been dogged by delays. A request for proposal is expected by December but even then it will be years yet before the new planes are in service.

“That increases the risk not only for the aircrews but also for people that need to be rescued,” Byers said.

Thursday’s changes come in the wake of a sharply critical report by auditor general Michael Ferguson, who highlighted big problems with the search-and-rescue network, including aging aircraft, second-rate helicopters, a shortage of personnel and an outdated information system to co-ordinate it all.

Ferguson starkly warned that the serious problems put at risk the “sustainability” of the country’s search-and-rescue program.