The man who publicly led the fight against the 2012 closure of the Canadian Coast Guard Marine Rescue sub-centre in St. John’s says there’s no reason the centre can’t be re-opened by this spring, now that the federal Liberal government has committed to bringing it back.
Merv Wiseman, a former rescue co-ordinator at the centre, said the physical infrastructure is still in place at the Atlantic Coast Guard headquarters building on Southside Road in St. John’s.
“I don’t know if (it being re-opened by the spring) will be the case or not. I don’t want to put pressure on people because we want to get it done right,” Wiseman said.
“But at the same time the expectation should be coming out now from people like myself, from the public in general that, OK, if we are going to do this, when is it going to be done? How is it going to be done? What other things are going to be addressed and so on?”
The St. John’s sub-centre, among other coast guard facilities in Canada, was closed during a series of cut-backs by the former federal Conservative government under Stephen Harper.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, there was an uproar of opposition. There were public rallies and protests, petitions circulated, calls made to federal MPs and ministers and angered rants on call-in radio shows. There were letters sent to local and national newspapers from a wide range of individuals and groups, and the provincial government at the time also tried to pressure the federal government to reverse the decision.
The Harper government refused.
Prior to November’s federal election, however, the Liberal Party under Justin Trudeau promised to re-open the sub-centres if elected to power.
The Liberals went on to win a majority government.
Prime Minister Trudeau has listed the re-opening of the sub-centre as a priority in a mandate letter to Hunter Tootoo, the new minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard.
“As Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, your overarching goal will be to protect our three oceans, coasts, waterways and fisheries and ensure that they remain healthy for future generations,” the letter stated.
“In particular, I will expect you to work with your colleagues and through established legislative, regulatory, and Cabinet processes to deliver on your top priorities.”
One of the priorities listed is to “re-open the Maritime Rescue Sub-centre in St. John’s, Newfoundland and the Kitsilano Coast Guard Base in Vancouver.”
On Dec. 16, during a media event in Vancouver, Tootoo reaffirmed the commitment to re-open the Kitsilano facility.
In response to questions about the St. John’s sub-centre in early January, however, Tootoo’s office would only issue a statement that “Minister Tootoo has asked departmental officials to develop a plan for meeting the government’s commitment to improve marine safety in Newfoundland and Labrador. Work is ongoing.”
And on his first official visit to the province on Jan. 11, Tootoo was vague on when the centre will be re-opened to what it had been in the past.
“I’ve asked my officials to bring forward proposals, ways where we can meet our commitment to Newfoundland and Labrador as well as the commitment to ensuring that we provide increased safety to mariners here in Newfoundland,” Tootoo said at a media briefing, accompanied by Premier Dwight Ball.
When asked directly by reporters if the St. John’s sub-centre will be re-opened, Tootoo replied that “the commitment is in the mandate.”
He also noted that finding ways to improve overall search and rescue capabilities in the region would be included in the review process being done by the officials.
“I’ve asked my officials to bring me some options that can best improve… have the most impact on providing safety for mariners here in Newfoundland.”
When the St. John’s sub-centre closed in 2012 the general fear was that, with the service being consolidated at the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax, the loss of local knowledge of the province’s rural areas and vessels, and the ability of co-ordinators to understand Newfoundland and Labrador’s different accents, would negatively impact search and rescue efforts.
Wiseman said that when the sub-centre closed, the 12 rescue co-ordinators working there at the time were either transferred to other areas of the Coast Guard, or retired. Wiseman also retired after 35 years with the Coast Guard. He had been working at the sub-centre since 1992.
“There’s four, maybe five retired now, so that leaves eight rescue co-ordinators still left in the system that’s still working with the Canadian Coast Guard in various capacities,” he said. “Some are on the ships, some in other departments. So here’s trained co-ordinators who could solve a really big HR issue, and there’s others who are lining up who would really like to work in that centre. It’s a preferred place to be, even among ships officers.”
Wiseman noted that from a physical infrastructure stand point, the sub-centre is still there.
“It’s not turned into office space, so it’s still an operations centre with all the physical infrastructure that’s needed,” he said. “So, basically, all they need to bring in now is some of the hardware and to get software programs set up for the computerized systems, and the landlines.”
“I understand there will be some recruitment issues, of course, and training and refresher training and these kind of things. It will take some time to put the pieces back together.”
At the Vancouver event, Tootoo said his department would consult with provincial governments and local stakeholders on how best to re-open facilities.
Wiseman was encouraged by that type of process.
“It’s my expectation that I would be consulted, however, I have no guarantee of that,” he said.
“First, I’d like to see an advisory group set up where people like myself have an opportunity to be there. I hope as they put these pieces back together, there is that advisory group there. It may be a chance to even improve the centre.”
Wiseman also noted that a state-of-the-art rescue co-ordination centre should be incorporated into the new $40-million coast guard building planned to be constructed near the site of the current headquarters in St. John’s. Plans for the new Atlantic region headquarters building were announced last May.
