Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Fisheries and Oceans
Issue No. 32 - Evidence - May 22, 2018
OTTAWA, Tuesday, May 22, 2018
The Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans met this day at 5:45 p.m. to study Maritime Search and Rescue activities, including current challenges and opportunities.
Senator Fabian Manning (Chair) in the chair.
[English]
The Chair: I would like to call this meeting to order. My name is Fabian Manning, senator from Newfoundland and Labrador. Welcome to the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.
I will ask the senators to introduce themselves first.
Senator Ringuette: Senator Ringuette from New Brunswick.
[Translation]
Senator Petitclerc: Chantal Petitclerc from Quebec.
[English]
Senator Gold: Marc Gold from Quebec.
The Chair: The committee is continuing its study on maritime search and rescue activities, including current challenges and opportunities. This evening we are pleased to welcome, from the Government of Nunavut, Ed Zebedee, Director of Protection Services, Department of Community and Government Services.
On behalf of the members of the committee, I thank you for being here today. I understand you have some opening remarks. Following your presentation, members of our committee may have some questions for you. I’m sorry for our delay in starting, and thank you for attending this evening. The floor is yours, sir.
Ed Zebedee, Director of Protection Services, Department of Community and Government Services, Government of Nunavut: Thank you, Mr. Chair, and good evening, members of the Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. I thank you for allowing me to speak to you regarding search and rescue in the Arctic.
I want to highlight the point that search and rescue in the Arctic and Subarctic is very different than in many other locations in Canada. I also want to note that my comments today are not limited to marine search and rescue. Search and rescue in the Arctic has to be looked at holistically. Aeronautical, marine and ground are all part of a single complex system in the Arctic and are complementary and interrelated to each other.
We face a climate that at times can be unforgiving and changing every year, combined with a remoteness that is unimaginable to many. This makes it one of the most difficult places in the world for search and rescue operations. As an example, the normal summer temperature of Iqaluit from June to August ranges from 3.4 degrees Celsius to 6.8 degrees Celsius, with the annual average daily temperature of minus 10. So the responses to individuals that are reported overdue or missing may require that immediate action be taken. Ocean water temperature is between 2 and 4 degrees Celsius.
While many of our citizens have a vast knowledge of the land and marine environment they have learned from their ancestors, equipment failures and changing climatic differences result in unpredictable, extreme weather events catching many ill-prepared.
With 25 of our 26 Nunavut communities being coastal communities, the ocean, regardless of either open water or ice, is the preferred and, in many cases, the only way other than air for travel to other communities or to traditional hunting areas. Marine mammals and fish are a major staple for most Inuit, who have always had a historical relationship with the ocean. This has made them people of the ocean.
As reported by scientists, climate change and the impacts of climate change are affecting the Arctic more than other regions in the world. It is changing our ice conditions and opening our waters for longer periods and during the time of the year when we get stronger storms. Boat safety is becoming a greater concern every year.
As the development in the Arctic increases, so does the number of community members who find employment and, from this employment, who have the resources to purchase all-terrain vehicles and vessels. But employment has also limited their time to participate in the traditional lifestyle which is so important to them.
This results in many members not developing and maintaining the skills to face an emergency on the water or land. While technology is being adopted by many, for others it is too costly and is a double-edged sword. When it fails, you have little but the skills you have learned, and with today’s new equipment you may be hundreds of miles from home or the nearest settlement.
Development in the Arctic has increased the possibility of accidents related to marine and air traffic, combined with the growing northern tourism industry, which is increasing risk and is also increasing awareness of this risk. Community leaders have identified that they need plans and training to deal with a major incident. Communities have no docks, breakwaters or even a boat launch that allows for a safe haven or docking of rescue boats.
Consider the difficulty offloading elderly tourists evacuated from a disabled vessel to a location on a dock. The lack of basic infrastructure not only adds to the risk for responders and their equipment but also increases the costs associated with the annual sealift. Should a major cruise ship incident happen, many of the runways in Nunavut would not be able to accommodate larger aircraft to assist with rescues or evacuation.
A large number of these searches are over quickly, normally within eight to 12 hours. With approximately 250 volunteer search and rescue personnel in Nunavut and the way communities come together when someone is lost or missing, we have a very high success rate, considering the climate and remoteness.
Our major challenges can be listed on one hand: communication, search and rescue infrastructure and equipment, climate conditions, lack of timely aerial support, and volunteer burnout. I will try and address each one quickly for you.
The lack of communication affects not only the individuals who may become lost but also our search and rescue volunteers during searches. The cost for communication equipment is very high. We do not have cell service or radio communication systems in many of our communities, and outside the community it is non-existent.
Officials in emergency management are currently looking at new technology and doing a cost-benefit analysis of replacing the current communication equipment for our search teams. It has served us well, but it is outdated. It has reached the end of its life cycle. Technology offers better equipment at a reduced operational cost, but with current budgets and the growing need for other services, it may be years before we can fully replace this equipment even for our search teams.
Marine radio repeater systems are desperately needed throughout Nunavut, and the development of such systems would serve our citizens all year long. Search equipment, such as all-terrain vehicles and vessels, is the backbone of our teams. Most equipment is personal equipment, and the operation is very costly. There is very little mapping of ocean bottoms and hazards, which results in many accidents every year. There are almost no repair facilities in communities, and most repairs are done by owners or friends with some knowledge. With many of our volunteers being hunters, it becomes difficult for them to get sufficient funds together so that equipment is in good repair at all times.
For this reason, they are reluctant to go out on a search at a moment’s notice and may do so knowing they have taken on added risk. This delays searches. I can’t count the number of times I have been told we have searchers but no equipment right now available to go out.
Climatic conditions, as noted, are changing. Getting information to communities not only on current weather conditions but on things like ice conditions, safe travel roads and ocean charting is an area that officials are working closely on with others, such as Environment Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard and SmartICE, to develop this information and prevention programs so that we can get knowledge out to those who need it.
Lack of timely aerial support. I want to clearly state that for us in Nunavut it is not a criticism of the support we have received from the Canadian Forces or the Canadian Coast Guard. It is the vast distance that that support must come before it reaches a search location. Time is critical when you are drifting on an ice pan that is breaking up or being immersed in water and you need medical assistance.
There is a lack of both fixed-wing and rotary-wing commercial aircraft in the North that are available when we have an incident. Rotary-wing aircraft are in short supply and located only in a few locations. Many are seasonally operated by mining companies, making their availability limited. The typical cost of a minimum four-hour call-out for a North-warning rotary-wing starts at $6,000 and goes up to $10,000 for a four-hour call-out.
None of the equipment currently in the Arctic has hoist capabilities. Not having the proper platform to operate from has resulted in accidents during rescues and risks that would normally never be taken by aircrews to save lives.
Volunteer burnout is becoming one of our greatest challenges. Many of our volunteers wear many hats. They are search and rescue members, Canadian Rangers, Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary members and firefighters, and they may sit on other volunteer community groups also. In between all this, most must spend considerable time on the land following a traditional hunting and fishing lifestyle to support their families. It is a concern we have had for some time, and we have had discussions with both the Canadian Forces and the Canadian Coast Guard on how to better support our volunteers.
In closing, search and rescue in the Arctic has always been and will remain best left to those who understand the land and the communities they live in. Their traditional knowledge combined with modern technology enables them to overcome most obstacles.
What they need is the financial resources, equipment, training and support from all levels of government to continue to do the many tasks that support our communities and those who live in them. We cannot continue to rely on the support of volunteers, their families and their communities unless we are willing to support them. The cost in lives is too great, and the financial burden for our governments is too onerous.
In closing, in my close to 38 years in the Arctic, any successful program resulted from consultation, collaboration and compromise. It is my opinion that investing more funds within the Arctic search and rescue community will pay dividends for many years to come. Failure to do so will result in slow erosion of the base of the current system and a growing financial burden to governments that is not nearly as responsive and will ultimately cost lives.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The Chair: Thank you, Mr. Zebedee. At least we have your testimony here, and if we need to follow up on it we will.
We have a vote in the chamber at 6:20, but I want to ask one quick question, and Senator Gold may have one quick question.
Several witnesses have proposed that existing private search and rescue helicopter companies, such as Cougar Helicopters Inc., be contracted through the Department of National Defence to provide SAR coverage in the Canadian Arctic. They explained that these companies already have the proper equipment and crews to perform search and rescue activities. It was suggested that each helicopter could be stationed in Cambridge Bay or Iqaluit.
What are your views on that? In your opinion, should the committee be looking at something like that as a recommendation?
Mr. Zebedee: We have had discussions with Cougar Helicopters and others. They probably offer one of the better programs right now and some of the best crews. Stationing rotary-wing helicopters in the Arctic, depending on where they are stationed, would be very helpful and would probably save a lot of lives.
I know various locations have been mentioned. I don’t want to put one over another. I have said maybe Rankin Inlet would be even better because it would be able to serve northern Quebec and into northern Manitoba and northern Ontario, and it can still serve into the Arctic. Others have disagreed with me, and that’s perfectly fine.
The Chair: I wanted your opinion on what you think overall.
Senator Gold: Thank you for being with us, and I do apologize for the limited time we will end up having together.
I want to pick up on a comment you made in your last paragraph or so of your presentation about consultation. Could you say a word or two about the level of consultation occurring between the territorial government, the federal government and others like the Coast Guard regarding improvements to search and rescue operations in Nunavut?
Mr. Zebedee: The Canadian Coast Guard and the Canadian Forces have not only started but have been doing some very good consultation in the last 18 months to two years. We have done a lot of work with them. I have actually sent staff of mine with the Canadian Coast Guard into the communities to smooth the waters, lead the way, do some translations where needed.
In the rollout of the Coast Guard Auxiliary program, they listened to what we’ve recommended, and they have done that. That program will be a great success for that reason. So they have done very, very well on the consultation part.
The Chair: Thank you, Mr. Zebedee. Once again, I apologize for the quickness of our meeting, but we wanted to hear your testimony, which we have on record now with some great recommendations you proposed. You put forward some concerns, and we hope to work on that as a committee. Thank you for your time this evening.
Mr. Zebedee: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
(The committee adjourned.)