WHEREAS Canada’s three northern territories encompass a vast, sparsely inhabited expanse of land and waters that is subject to a very harsh climate;
AND WHEREAS our climate is changing two to four times faster than in the South, and impacts, including increasing numbers and severity of so-called natural disasters, put residents and visitors alike at risk;
AND WHEREAS Arctic sovereignty is a stated priority of the Prime Minister of Canada;
AND WHEREAS there has been a substantial increase in commercial air traffic over polar routes since the 1990s, with the number of annual flights now exceeding 10,000;
AND WHEREAS every minute counts during a search and rescue operation;
AND WHEREAS all present Department of National Defence search and rescue operations are based in southern Canada;
AND WHEREAS a search and rescue base located in the North would greatly reduce the time required to reach people in distress;
AND WHEREAS the NWT economy is growing, with resulting increases to the numbers of workers regularly travelling to remote sites, and the numbers of tourists, thereby increasing the population at risk of a major incident requiring search and rescue;
AND WHEREAS Northerners are Canadians too and deserve the same levels of service as other Canadians in an emergency situation on the land;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that this Legislative Assembly strongly urges the Government of Canada to establish a search and rescue base in a central location north of the 60th parallel.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I bring this motion forward because I believe strongly that there needs to be a search and rescue base north of 60. I’ve lived in the North over 40 years, and as long as I’ve been here, Northerners have been talking about the need for a search and rescue base in the North.
All Northerners from the High Arctic to the 60th parallel are a long way from any dedicated rescue facility. Unlike southern Canada, a Northerner in distress or lost on the land is literally many hours away from the beginning of a search and rescue operation, and the further north the emergency, the longer it takes for a search party or rescue team to get to the search area.
Our land is vast up here and our climate is harsh. It only makes sense to locate a search and rescue base closer to the huge land mass that is the North.
There are three search and rescue regions in Canada. At this time, NWT is part of the Trenton rescue region, the largest rescue region of the three, and we are serviced by a Canadian Forces base in Trenton, Ontario, three provinces away and a long way south. We are the area of Canada furthest removed from the nearest search and rescue base. The Yukon is served by Victoria. Much of Nunavut is served by Halifax. We are served by Trenton in southern Ontario.
Not many people up here to get into trouble you say? That’s true. Our population is small, but we Northerners deserve the same standard of service as Southerners. As well, many, many people fly over our heads every day of the year. Since 1998, increasing numbers of aircraft are using a polar route to travel from North America to Asia and vice versa. Airlines have recognized that travelling over the top is the most efficient route in terms of both time and fuel. It’s estimated that some 11,000 passengers a day pass over the North via one of the four polar air routes.
Should just one of these airliners go down, 300 to 350 people will be at grave risk, unprepared for the cold and the isolation, and many hours from any help. The number of airline flights is only increasing every year, putting more and more people at risk every year. A search and rescue base in the North would get to these downed passengers much faster. It would mean fewer lives at risk, fewer lives lost.
Northerners, by our very nature, like to spend a lot of time on the land. Many tourists and visitors to our territory are also outdoor enthusiasts. It is, unfortunately, all too common for hikers, hunters, travellers on the land to have mechanical difficulties, to lose their way or otherwise get into trouble. Why should Northerners be at greater risk to life and limb than Southerners just because a search and rescue base is a long way off?
As Premier McLeod stated at the recent announcement by Discovery Air/Airbus Military: “Ensuring the safety of our people, particularly when they are travelling on the land, sea or rivers, is a key part of sustaining our communities and Canada’s presence in the North. Residents and visitors need to be confident that if an emergency arises, they will receive protection and support.”
Northerners can be much more confident of that protection with a search and rescue base in the North.
Also at that same announcement, Brian Semkowski, the chief executive officer of Discovery Air, stated: “By basing aircraft in the North and designating them as dedicated SAR assets, we believe Canada will be in an excellent position to respond to incidents in the North.”
The bottom line is that in an emergency, especially in our northern winter, every second counts. This motion asks the House to petition Canada to establish a search and rescue base north of 60. I hope all Members agree with me that it is time to make that change, and I urge my colleagues to vote in favour of this motion. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion. Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be supporting this motion and I want to underscore and support my colleague and thank her and second her for bringing this motion forward. The search and rescue is, obviously, critical and timing is of the essence.
As many of us know – not all of us – it used to be that search and rescue was done pretty much by local providers, air charter services, people with knowledge of travelling on the land and so forth. Over time it sort of became a more bureaucratic approach and things were based further and further away. Finally, far to the southeast of Canada. This is undoubtedly at a cost to the being rescued as well as the financial costs, perhaps. So there is a real need to establish a base in the North.
We know that with the opening up of the passage through the Arctic, cruise ships are becoming more popular in that area and these ships often have passengers that number above the total accumulated number of people in our northern communities. Should an event happen with them as happened in Italy and so on, obviously it would be quite disastrous and we would really need those resources close to hand.
I myself have benefitted from search and rescue, local search and rescue in the past, my distant past, an experience that I will never forget, a traumatic experience. I want to acknowledge Rocky Parsons, a local pilot at the time supported by a member of the Lutselk’e band, and I don’t doubt that there are others in the House today who have also benefited from search and rescue or participated in the delivering of search and rescue.
We need a base in the Northwest Territories, somewhere in the North. Even so, it could be hours away from those needing search and rescue. So let’s at least provide that minimum level of service, and I will join my colleagues in asking this House to request that Ottawa ensure that this base is established in the North, in the Northwest Territories. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. To the motion. The seconder of the motion, Mr. Nadli.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, support this motion. The air industry in the Northwest Territories is fairly well established and they have the capacity, therefore, I feel very confident that they could provide a very key and critical service that is very clearly evident and needed here in the Northwest Territories.
The public safety, of course, is the highest principle in ensuring that we’re all safe and that we’re confident that if something does happen, there are people out there that will be quite capable and ready to provide a service that is sometimes based on time. Having a search and rescue base here in the North would really provide a timely operational safety net to ensure the public safety is always the foremost in our priorities.
I see this as an operational step. It will, indeed, establish a northern star almost, a beacon of hope, a beacon of light for people that travel through the Northwest Territories. At the same time, we always have to be prepared that accidents, major catastrophes, at the same time people have been lost out on the land, it’s always something that we try to avoid, but it does happen from time to time. If that happens, time is critical and having a base here in the Northwest Territories we’ll, indeed, be in the position to save lives.
Therefore, I support this motion and encourage my colleagues to do the same. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Nadli. To the motion. Mr. Dolynny.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, will be speaking in favour of this motion. As we heard, time is everything, every minute counts and as we’ve heard, every second counts. Who better to understand the needs of Northerners than Northerners themselves, and Northerners are better able to handle northern emergencies. Anyone who has watched NWT Ice Pilots or any of our shows and watch our DC-3s in action across the North know very well the intricacies of flying in the North – wind shear, different temperatures, the harshness that we have to experience – and it is only through that type of knowledge of the land and of our air that these are the critical advantages for those who are deeply at risk, who are our own people.
We’ve heard about issues with air and water and with the larger planes, the longer routes and the more complex air traffic system that we’re going to encounter over the next number of years. This is a bigger issue and even a bigger rationale for having a northern depot for search and rescue.
Sea ice is disappearing. This is a common fact, we know that, due to climate change. This will also open up new tourism. This will also open up more routes, larger routes for transportation of goods and services. Even more rational reason that a northern search and rescue is going to be a vital, critical piece of infrastructure for the safety of all Northerners. So I will be speaking in favour of this motion. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. To the motion. Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I, too, am rising in support of this motion and I’ll certainly be voting in favour of it. In a time when we’re talking about devolution and decentralization, a search and rescue base in the North only makes sense, and in fact the federal government, it has been said, is paying a lot of attention to the North. So here is another way that they can continue with the North as a priority. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. To the motion. Mr. Yakeleya.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll be supporting this motion. Hopefully this motion will give some strength to the powers that be in this House in that they go down to Ottawa on every chance and talk to the people in Ottawa as to why we need to have northern rescue operations in the Northwest Territories.
We have a vast region. My colleague talked about Nunavut being served from Halifax, the Northwest Territories from Trenton, and the Yukon from BC and Vancouver. We need to get together with the other provinces and look at a northern operation that will serve the northern territories. So hopefully this strong message will start to trickle down to the powers that be in Ottawa to show that the North is waking up and that we need a system like this in the Northwest Territories to help our people.
So I’ll be supporting this motion. Hopefully this motion will give some power to the Cabinet to talk to their colleagues when they have their federal and territorial Ministers’ meeting.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. To the motion. Mr. Moses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank Member Bisaro and Member Nadli for bringing this motion to the floor. I rise to support the motion as well. All of my colleagues have made really good causes as to why we need this type of service in the Northwest Territories that would provide services to our circumpolar region.
Once again, I thank the Members for bringing this motion to the floor and I support the motion as well. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. To the motion. Deputy Premier, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Since this is a direction to the federal government, the Cabinet will have a free vote on this particular motion. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. I’ll allow closing remarks to Ms. Bisaro on the motion. Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll be brief. I really want to thank all my colleagues for their very thoughtful remarks and for their support. This motion goes to the need for a much needed facility, much needed resources located where it should be, north of 60. So I would like to again thank my colleagues and I would ask for a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. To the motion.
