Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Fisheries and Oceans
Issue No. 31 - Evidence - May 10, 2018
OTTAWA, Thursday, May 10, 2018
The Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans met this day at 8:33 a.m. to study Maritime Search and Rescue activities, including current challenges and opportunities.
Senator Marc Gold (Deputy Chair) in the chair.
The Deputy Chair: Good morning. My name is Marc Gold, senator from Quebec. I am pleased to chair this meeting. Before I give the floor to witnesses, I would like to invite the members of the committee to introduce themselves, starting from my right.
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Senator Ringuette: Pierrette Ringuette from New Brunswick.
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Senator Christmas: Dan Christmas, Nova Scotia.
Senator Coyle: Mary Coyle, Nova Scotia.
[Translation]
Senator Poirier: Rose-May Poirier from New Brunswick. Welcome.
[English]
The Deputy Chair: We expect other senators will be arriving.
The committee is continuing its study on maritime search and rescue activities including current challenges and opportunities. This morning we are very pleased to welcome representatives from National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces to discuss their involvement in central and Arctic maritime search and rescue.
With us today from National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces are Major-General William Seymour, Chief of Staff, Operations, Canadian Joint Operations Command; by video conference, Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Nelles, Senior Staff Officer, Search and Rescue, 1 Canadian Air Division; Lieutenant-Colonel Leighton James, Commanding Officer, 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron; and Major Myrian Lafrance, Officer in charge, Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Trenton.
Welcome to you all. It’s very nice to have you with us.
I understand, major-general, had you some opening remarks, following which members of the committee, I’m sure, we will have lots of questions for you.
[Translation]
You have the floor.
Major-General William Seymour, Chief of Staff, Operations, Canadian Joint Operations Command, National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces: Thank you very much. Hello, Mr. Chair, honourable senators. It is pleasure to be here to speak to you today as part of your study on maritime search and rescue, or SAR.
I know this study has been going on for some time and we are grateful for the opportunity to add perspective from the operational level.
I am here today representing the Canadian Joint Operations Command, the CJOC, the military command that is responsible for all Canadian Armed Forces operations.
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You have met my colleagues appearing on video teleconference.
Canadian Joint Operations Command prepares for and conducts Canadian Armed Forces operations including search and rescue. We are responsible for the provision of the aeronautical SAR and the effective coordination of aeronautical and maritime SAR. We accomplish this task through 1 Canadian Air Division, the wings and squadrons across Canada that conduct SAR operations and the search and rescue regional commanders who are responsible for SAR efforts in each of the SAR regions across the country.
My boss is Lieutenant General Stephen Bowes, the commander of CJOC. The ultimate responsibility for search and rescue falls to him. My role at Canadian Joint Operations Command is chief of staff for operations. I oversee search and rescue operations on behalf of the commander, as well as all domestic and international operations of the Canadian Armed Forces.
We don’t carry out that responsibility alone. We have dedicated and highly trained SAR personnel who carry out this responsibility for the Canadian Armed Forces day in and day out.
I’d like to begin this morning’s appearance by setting the scene with four points.
First, I’ll begin with Canada’s defence policy — Strong, Secure, Engaged. This policy is the product of the extensive consultations with Canadians, Indigenous communities, allies, partners and subject matter experts. Through that process, Canadians and the government said that search and rescue services provided by the Canadian Armed Forces are a priority.
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To that end, Canada’s defence policy, Strong, Secure, Engaged, makes conducting search and rescue one of the eight core missions of the Canadian Armed Forces.
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To accomplish this, we devote approximately 950 personnel to deliver SAR services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Second, I’d like to reinforce the point made by many who have appeared before you on this subject, that search and rescue response in Canada is a network; it’s a system of systems.
We know when many Canadians think of SAR they think of the big yellow helicopter, the big yellow airplane, or the SAR technicians in their orange jump suits swooping in and saving the day. While that’s certainly an important aspect of SAR response we’re proud of, I stress this is only a piece of the broader SAR network.
As you know, SAR in Canada is a shared responsibility among the Canadian Armed Forces, the Canadian Coast Guard, the RCMP, Public Safety Canada, Parks Canada, provincial, territorial and municipal authorities, as well as air, ground and maritime SAR volunteer organizations.
The point is this: SAR response in Canada is a system of systems with the ultimate aim of responding as quickly as possible, with the assets most readily available.
To highlight this concept, I’d like to use the example of the SAR response to the Atlantic Charger incident from September 2015. The Atlantic Charger was a vessel sinking in Frobisher Bay, with the crew having abandoned ship into a life raft. The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax was notified of the crew abandoning ship on 21 September, and a CP140 which was already airborne was re-tasked to locate the vessel. At the same time, a C-130 Hercules and a Cormorant search and rescue helicopter were launched in response to make their way towards the search site.
While these CAF assets were transiting to the incident site, the search and rescue coordinators searched for and found a vessel of opportunity in the vicinity of the Atlantic Charger. They actually found several vessels, and then vectored those ships towards the search site. The vessel was much closer to the scene and would be able to get on station much faster than the helicopter that had already been launched. The vessel of opportunity was tasked to rescue the crew of the Atlantic Charger, they did so. The crew made it off safely.
There was media coverage following that event, and some of the crew questioned why they were not rescued by a big yellow helicopter. They were rescued by the fastest resource that was available on scene.
The point is search and rescue response is a network. In the case of the Atlantic Charger the network worked exactly as it was supposed to.
Yes, the Canadian Armed Forces is a part of that network, but vessels of opportunity are as well.
The third point I would like to make is one of simple geography. As this committee is well aware, Canada has one of the largest search and rescue area responsibilities in the world, covering some 18 million square kilometres of land and water.
Canada’s vast and varied geography, terrain and climate, especially in the Arctic, can be harsh and demanding and this can pose particular challenges when SAR services are required in the North. To put it in perspective, there are approximately 120,000 people across the three territories. While the territories comprise roughly 40 per cent of Canada’s land mass, they have only .003 per cent of the population. As such, fewer than 5 per cent of search and rescue incidents occur above the fifty-fifth parallel or roughly above the city of Grande Prairie, Alberta.
I know you’ve already heard from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centres on each coast. Today you get an opportunity to hear from the SAR personnel in Trenton and Winnipeg who are responsible for the central region.
JRCC Trenton’s area of responsibility covers more than 7.4 million square kilometres running from the British Columbia-Alberta border to Quebec City, and from the Canada-U.S. border to the North Pole. As you appreciate, this is a massive area of responsibility.
I also know members of this committee have an interest in Canada’s Arctic region. Search and rescue in the Arctic and maritime SAR in particular is an issue of increasing importance. With the melting of ice caps and sea ice our Arctic waterways are opening for longer periods of time and bringing increased maritime commercial, scientific, tourist and adventurer traffic.
The recent passage of the cruise ship Crystal Serenity and the Chinese research vessel Xue Long through the Northwest Passage highlighted the need to exercise our search and rescue plans in the North.
[Translation]
That brings me to my fourth and final point: the importance of preparedness and prevention. In the military, we do a lot of planning and training in order to ensure we are as prepared as we can be for any situation. Planning forces us to think about potential scenarios we could encounter and training forces us to put these plans into action and exercise them in real life conditions.
This summer, we will do exactly that. Exercise Ready Soteria will exercise the contingency plan for responding to a major air disaster in Canada’s North. This exercise will involve our federal and territorial partners and agencies, reinforcing the networked nature of SAR response in Canada.
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The other important piece is prevention.
Working together with federal, provincial, territorial, municipal and local partners, the SAR community must relay to Canadians the importance of being prepared when they go out on the land, the sea or in the air. This involves telling people where you’re going, knowing your way back if your technology fails and knowing how to survive. These are critical components in helping the SAR network carry out its mission to help those in distress.
One of the concepts that often comes up when we discuss the Arctic is the tyranny of time, space and distance. This phrase highlights the fact that most of Canada’s major assets used in SAR operations, including the Arctic, are based in the southern portion of the country where incidents are more likely to occur due to population density.
While a SAR incident in the North will be responded to by primary SAR aircraft as with any other SAR in Canada, we work diligently to establish and maintain partnerships with organizations situated in the North whom we can reach out to and task in order to enhance our response. This underscores the need for close collaboration, domain awareness and information sharing within the SAR network in order to know what is going on in the Arctic region.
This is the value of our networked system of systems approach to SAR. We feed information to one another and enable each other to respond as quickly as we can to those in distress.
To sum up, the Canadian Armed Forces are an important part of the SAR network and will always stand ready to assist Canadians in distress from coast to coast. The strength of the SAR network is in the partnerships and relationships of the SAR system as a whole and the range of capabilities they bring to bear.
I want to thank you for your work in studying search and rescue in Canada and for the opportunity to appear today. With that, we are ready to take your questions.
The Deputy Chair: Thank you very much for your presentation and all the work you and your colleagues do. Before we turn to questions, I want to take the opportunity to say a few words about Senator Nancy Greene Raine. She’s going to be asking you a question in a second.
Today is actually Senator Greene Raine’s last day in this committee. She’s come to the end of her very distinguished tenure here in the Senate. It’s been over nine years that Nancy Greene Raine has served Canada as a member of the Senate.
You’ve been on this committee this whole time. You’ve brought tremendous devotion and commitment to your job, to the people of B.C. whom you represent, but always with a Canadian perspective as well.
You’re also the institutional memory on this committee, for someone who has been here only for a year and a half, that’s an invaluable resource.
On a personal note, you were one of the first senators to welcome my wife and I when we came to Ottawa, and you made me feel at home right away.
I know all of our colleagues on this committee and in the Senate join me in wishing you the best of luck as you open up the next chapter in what has been a tremendous and an illustrious career.
Senator Raine: Thank you very much. You’re right, I have been here a long time. I’ve really enjoyed it. This last study that we’ve been on has reinforced my understanding of the wonderful network of networks, as you called it, and especially the quality of the people who work in those networks. We’ve had the opportunity to travel as a committee throughout my tenure to many different places.
I’m really glad you’re here today because I think the Canadian military is top of the heap when you think of the network of networks. I know how hard it must be to have all of these different networks talking to each other properly and have that flow of information under tremendous pressure at critical times to be done quickly without confusion.
Last week we heard from the association of commercial airlines and commercial charter operators spread throughout the North. I think it struck all of us that somehow they aren’t connected as well into the network of networks as they could be.
I’m wondering if you looked at the testimony or heard the testimony that we heard and how you would comment on using all those private assets more effectively. In particular, they talked about the need for a database being kept up to date all the time on where all the different pieces were so when you had to push the help button you knew where the pieces were.
Could you expand on that issue from your point of view?
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: Thank you very much for the question and for your service both to the committee and to Canada in this role. You’re a great Canadian. I’m proud to be able to be here with you today.
With regard to the network piece, I’ll offer a couple of comments and then open to Major Lafrance who works those networks on a daily basis and can give you a sense from her perspective of how that works.
In terms of the network up North, I did not read the testimony in that particular example, although I’ve gone through other testimony as part of my preparation to appear here today.
The communication piece from past testimony you’ve heard is really important in making people aware. One of those things is the warning problem. We can only respond to a search and rescue incident once we’re actually made aware of the incident. That’s a key part of communication in the network in order to respond.
We do maintain a database and information about where commercial providers are in the Arctic and in the North. I have some information in my binder that says there are key locations where we do tap into assets. In terms of specifics and how frequently that’s updated, I’ll turn to Major Lafrance to give you a sense from her perspective as the officer in charge of the rescue coordination centre for that particular region and how that works for her.
Major Myrian Lafrance, Officer in charge, Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Trenton, National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces: Good morning, Mr. Chair. I’m Myrian Lafrance, in charge of the JRCC here in Trenton.
As far as the network of networks here at the centre, we have a very big database of all our partners, the Coast Guard, the airlines, the emergency management operation, the organization up North, and every police detachment across Canada.
We have a big database of all those partners who, depending on what is happening and where it is, we’re going to reach out to our partners in that region. That’s how we’re going to make the search effort and rescue effort significant and appropriate to the situation.
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: In addition to that, looking specifically at Arctic response, the Canadian Forces also has Joint Task Force North located in the Arctic. One of the responsibilities of the one-star general who runs Joint Task Force North is to build relationships across the North in various communities. His campaign plan for each year involves going to different communities and working with community leaders to assist in various kinds of responses, be it a local event or an emergency and help them respond or to support them should a search and rescue event come up.
That is a part of that broader network. Our activities in the North over time and our presence in the Arctic is another mechanism we would use to respond to an incident up there.
The Canadian Forces holds a number of exercises in the Arctic every year, including the one I mentioned in my opening comments, which is Ready Soteria that will test our major air disaster system. The fact we’re up there every year and doing things throughout the North, and we have a network ourselves of communities and organizations, that then supplements what Major Lafrance’s responsibilities are in the specific SAR domain.
There are a number of things that overlap to ensure that we’re both aware what’s happening up North, and then it will respond collectively to any situation.
Senator Raine: If your database has the points of contacts for all the different partners, but when you press the partner who might be a northern charter operator with helicopters and small float planes, you have the name of that company and that person, but you don’t know where the assets are.
I’m wondering if it’s possible today with the database and how sophisticated they can be, if you could press the button for that aviation company and see they have a helicopter 500 miles away that’s close to where an incident might be. That isn’t happening yet, but do you think that could happen in the future?
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: I’ll let Major Lafrance think about that for a second. In terms of the network — it’s not simply a database — but we also maintain the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association, CASARA. They have member organizations throughout Canada, including in the North with northern-based and private commercial operators in Arctic Bay, Pond Inlet and Gjoa Haven, Hall Beach as well as zones in Inuvik, Norman Wells, Cambridge Bay, Resolute Bay, Rankin Inlet, Iqaluit, Kuujjuaq, Whitehorse and Yellowknife. These are all on speed dial. If an incident occurs fairly close to a SAR, we would reach out to the closest point of contact.
Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Nelles, Senior Staff Officer, Search and Rescue, 1 Canadian Air Division, National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces: I believe Senator Greene Raine may be referring to the Northern Air Transport Association when she referred to the association of partner airlines in the North.
CASARA, the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association, has relationships with various partners within that organization. A number of years ago, the Civil Air Search and Rescue Association began a program to increase its footprint in capability and capacity in the North by reaching out to air operators. Their previous model of doing business was a southern model based on owner and operator access to aircraft, which is not the case in the North. It does rely heavily on the ability to access those operators who have a functioning business within the North. The CASARA organization reached out a number of years ago. We can see the fruits of that in the establishment of a number of locations. We want that to grow.
A database is only as valuable as the information put into it. It’s the people capital that are part of that organization that make it effective. It is knowing who to contact and who to be able to rely upon in order to affect decisions at critical points in order to make rescues effective.
Major Lafrance and her network do know the contact for those people. It’s the people at the other end of the phone who are going to make the difference in understanding what is possible in that moment of need.
Maj. Lafrance: We rely a lot on the CASARA network. There’s also the ATC, the Air Traffic Control Network in Canada. We can always ask if they see any return in that area. It’s a network of networks where we’re using all of those assets and partners on the ground to help us out.
The emergency management organization, especially in Inuvik, they are very helpful and knowledgeable. They are doing a lot of outreach. When we go through them, often they are able to point us toward a resource we could utilize.
Senator Raine: Thank you very much.
The Deputy Chair: As you may know, we’re going to be visiting CASARA when we’re up in Iqaluit in a few short weeks.
Senator Ringuette: I’d like to echo your comments to Senator Greene Raine. We’ll miss you.
Thank you very much for the work that you’ve been doing and for being here this morning.
I appreciate that you have a network of networks, particularly in the North, because of the distance and the geography you have to cover. However, we have been told by volunteers there is a lack of training. It’s nice to have a network of networks, but who is responsible to provide the basic training? Who is responsible to provide the basic equipment if these networks and people within northern communities need to be the first responders in an emergency situation? Do you have a five-year plan to provide training and basic equipment for the people, mostly the civil societies, in your network of networks?
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: Senator, thank you for the question. I’ll ask my colleagues to help with the answer.
The first thing is we have a training plan and an active involvement with the organizations we are affiliated with and control. We’re directly affiliated with CASARA and we oversee the Canadian Ranger program which operates up North and has an extensive training program. A five-year plan for those broader organizations that supplement the SAR response up North.
There are varying responsibilities, I would suggest, within the air force, which we have oversight on within the Coast Guard through their voluntary organizations, and then more broadly the ground-based search and rescue organizations that are coordinated by Public Safety Canada, which is the champion for ground SAR throughout Canada.
There are overlapping responsibilities. Speaking specifically about Canadian Forces responsibilities, I will ask Lieutenant-Colonel Nelles or my colleagues from Trenton to add information.
Lt.-Col. Nelles: Thank you for the question. I’m intimately involved with CASARA. That is our volunteer association directly related to our DND activities, our Royal Canadian Air Force activities in search and rescue.
It was 30 years ago that relationship was formally established through a series of contribution agreements which over time served to fund the training activities that make CASARA assets a reliable asset for the Joint Rescue Coordination Centres. It is limited to the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre but also use by provincial authorities in the execution of their own search requirements, requiring aerial search.
That funding agreement serves to train volunteers to equip CASARA with things like homing equipment for their aircraft and ground use. It serves to facilitate their exercises locally and abroad.
Their achievements in training are evaluated by military personnel who go out and, no less than every two years, evaluate each of the CASARA organizations, including those in the North.
That’s how we validate the efforts of their training. We see the execution in their efforts. Last year, there were about 240 times when CASARA was tasked by either a JRCC or a provincial authority to deliver search efforts on their behalf. CASARA is also part of the Search and Rescue Volunteers Association, and that is championed by Public Safety Canada. There is a lot of integration with various organizations. In terms of responsibility for oversight of training and assisting with the training delivery, CASARA is our focus within the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Senator Ringuette: Thank you for that answer. That begs the following question: Who is ultimately in charge of search and rescue? The plan I’m talking about — training and basic first response equipment — who is, within your network of networks, ultimately responsible?
I understand the air force looks into air response, but there’s not only an air response to search and rescue. Who is ultimately responsible to coordinate the network of networks?
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: In looking through those who have appeared in front of you in the past, I think you’ve had some members of public safety talk to you about their responsibilities. From my involvement with public safety, the ICSAR committee and emergency management committee, my understanding is the lead for Canadian SAR is the Minister of Public Safety. Through that responsibility we collaborate through governance mechanisms to talk about the questions you’re asking, and then coordinate the various aspects of the RCAF who is responsible for aeronautical search and rescue, the Coast Guard who is responsible for maritime search and rescue, and then public safety who is the champion and overseer of ground search and rescue. That brings the network of networks together. I think the answer to your question, especially integrating ground elements of search and rescue, is the responsibility of public safety and the national SAR secretariat.
Senator Poirier: Thank you all for being here and to our witnesses on video conference.
We have a sheet passed to us this morning and it is a breakdown for the SAR region in Trenton. On the breakdown it talks about stats from 2015, 2016 and 2017 in terms of the number of incidents, and also number of incidents in the North.
I see there is a decrease from 2015 to 2017 in the number of incidents, also in the North. The decrease goes from 16 incidents in 2015 to 20 incidents in 2016, and then down to 9 incidents in 2017. I’m wondering if the decrease is due to the fact that people are more educated on how to stay safe when they’re out there? Or is it that we have more people in the network who are out there to help, and we’re not seeing as many incidents because of that?
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: I’ll ask my colleagues on video conference to answer.
Leighton James, Commanding Officer, 424Transport and Rescue Squadron (8 wg Trenton), National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces: Good morning, ma’am. Can you specify whether you’re strictly looking at humanitarian cases, or SAR cases in general?
Senator Poirier: It says —
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— Maritime SAR incidents in which CAF air assets were tasked.
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The sheet was given to us just a few minutes ago. It says Maritime SAR in the Trenton region.
Lt.-Col. James: I can’t speak directly to the maritime portion. I will tell you anecdotally from the commanding officer of 424 squadron’s perspective, that aeronautical cases are reduced due to technology, such as the 406 beacon, to allow us to identify what is going on in an aeronautical urgency without having to launch through the digital coding of that particular technology. I suspect this is one reason there has been a steady reduction in the number of Arctic aeronautical cases over time.
Senator Poirier: It’s a bit confusing because you don’t look after the maritime region in the Arctic at Trenton? That’s not within your district?
Lt.-Col. James: The Canadian Armed forces is responsible for aeronautical cases. However we collaborate through the JRCC for maritime cases. We will launch on a maritime case and collaborate with the Coast Guard. I’m referring only to the aeronautical incidences I’m aware of. I can’t speak to why maritime cases would be reduced over the years.
Senator Poirier: My next question is for Major Lafrance. In 2017, the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Trenton responded to over 2,000 maritime search and rescue calls and a large number of these incidents involved pleasure boaters. I’m wondering if you can share with us if the trend involving pleasure boaters is also present in the Arctic and what proportion of maritime search and rescue incidents occur yearly, on average, in the Arctic? Do we see this increasing over time? How is that going?
Maj. Lafrance: Thank you for your question, Madam Senator. In the Trenton search and rescue region, we have many more pleasure boat incidents on the Great Lakes. There are fewer pleasure boats in the Arctic Ocean. Two thirds of our cases at JRCC Trenton involve maritime SAR, mostly on the Great Lakes.
With the opening of the Arctic through climate change, there are more and more tourist activities happening in the North. We have seen an increase in the sense that a few years prior there was no adventure tourist activity in the North. Now there is. Sometimes those people need our help. However, it’s still very minimal.
We had 250 maritime cases in the North this year.
Lt.-Col. James: I can offer from 424’s perspective, that approximately 248 cases in 2017 were in the Arctic.
Senator Poirier: My next question is for Lieutenant Colonel James. My understanding is your rescue squadron’s aircraft has a 30-minute standby response in normal working hours, and a two-hour posture at other times, from the time a distress call is received at the coordination centre.
Regarding distress calls from the Arctic, could you give us a play by play from the time the call is first received to the time the rescue mission is complete?
Lt.-Col. James: Absolutely. Thank you for the question. I will give you a general sense of how this would go. For the 30-minute response, the crews have arrived in the morning and have done their preparation for the day. It’s difficult to do a 30-minute response without being fully prepared with equipment on the aircraft and ready to go. When the call comes from JRCC, most of the time the aircraft is already in the air doing training in some area in southern Ontario.
We can carry enough fuel to cover a vast distance for the C-130H specifically.
The call will come in, we will get the coordinates, and we will start pointing the aircraft in that direction while doing all the administrative preparation through ATC, a flight plan and those types of things. En route to the Arctic, depending on location, it’s seven to eight hours for us to get to the fullest extent of the Arctic region. I would add to this comment that 435 squadron is also in our region and further north than we are. Typically 435 will be given the Arctic call to further reduce the transit time. However, if you are specifically talking about 424, it will be about eight hours for us to get to the fullest extent of our region.
En route we will be looking at things like updating the case through JRCC. JRCC will be looking at other aspects of that network — CASARA, other ATC aircraft that are airborne, other vessels in the area, people on the ground — they will be coordinating all of that simultaneously while we’re transiting to the North.
What we will look at when we are transiting to the North is our ability to recover, i.e. to land in the North if required. We will bring our base of recovery, our landing airport, closer and closer to us as the case goes on, depending on fuel, so we can maximize our search and coverage in the North.
Once we arrive on scene, we will assess the situation, and we will have a task from JRCC in order to search the area, the last known position, and we will do that until we have no fuel remaining, only to recover to a location in the North.
That is the general play by play. En route, if we are updated with further information — i.e., Natural Resources Canada has located or has a better-defined area for us to search — we will adjust accordingly. We are constantly trying to seamlessly improve with respect to defining and refining the search parameters and the search area. We will conduct and complete that search, and, depending on our fuel state, either recover locally to continue at first light or when the crew is able to continue or we’ll recover back to Trenton.
Senator Poirier: If we’re not in that normal working hours, and we are at the two hours, that extends that ability to get to the North Arctic if there’s an issue or distress call, depending where, up to approximately what time?
Lt.-Col. James: In the off hours, you’re talking about the two-hour response period?
Senator Poirier: Yes.
Lt.-Col. James: For the two-hour response period, generally we are still airborne by one hour, according to the statistics. That is to allow the crews to get in and do the necessary planning. Generally, the statistics show that approximately one hour we are airborne, even in the two-hour response posture period. You’re talking about, from a static 30-minute response posture to a two-hour response posture, a delta of a half an hour in terms of response time.
Senator Poirier: You mentioned it was seven hours to get to the extent parts of the Arctic, but if we’re not doing the 30 hours with the normal working hours, but the off hour is where there is a two-hour posture, instead of the seven or eight hours, what is it to get there?
Lt.-Col. James: Let me be specific. I think I was confusing things. The seven to eight hours is a transit time for the aircraft to get airborne from point A to point B. If you add in the two-hour response posture period where we are normally airborne in an hour, you add one hour to that time period. Where it would take eight hours airborne to get from point A to point B, it takes nine hours to complete that full evolution.
Senator Poirier: The number of incidents you’re dealing with, how many of them are in the normal hours compared to the off hours?
Lt.-Col. James: CJOC looks at the statistics specifically for my region — all regions do — but my region adjusts based on seasonal variations for recreational activity to target that three-minute response time to those times which most need it.
As of the long weekend in May, we adjust our 30-minute response posture to cover the weekend period, the Saturday and Sunday period, which allows us to capture more SAR cases over that period of time.
That adjustment allows us to capture as many cases as statistically viable.
Lt.-Col. Nelles: This has to do with addressing the response posture. I know it’s often a contentious issue. We respond immediately in all circumstances.
During the normal course of what we would call a working day, the 30-minute response posture represents when crews are in at the unit, as Lieutenant-Colonel James indicated, often conducting training activities. It’s expected our response is going to be quicker under those circumstances. The studies we have undertaken suggest the delta between the 30-minute response posture and the two-hour response posture is 30 to 45 minutes in time.
A nuance that’s not often considered with the 30-minute response posture is that a crew has a limit to how long they’re actually able to engage in flying operations. Once that crew day has started, it has a limiting factor on how much longer a crew can continue to conduct SAR operations.
By adopting a two-hour response posture, we’re able to have crews who are technically fresh and able to continue to deliver a SAR response for 14, 16, 18 hours, which allows them to then go longer, further distances.
To address the point of getting to northern regions, Lieutenant-Colonel James spoke to the absolute extremities of the region. The North starts much further south than the North Pole. Our aircraft are delivering within three and four hours to northern regions, and at the extreme locations, it’s eight and nine hours, depending on the response posture being held at the time of the call-out.
The Deputy Chair: Thank you, lieutenant-colonel.
Senator Coyle: Let me join my colleagues in saying to Senator Raine that I will be missing her and her wisdom. I’m sorry I’m not sitting beside you, because I usually am. I learned so much at your side. I know you won’t be too far away.
Major Lafrance and the gentlemen here, I’m so pleased and honoured to be in your presence. My father was in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War, and I have an awful lot of respect for the work you do as well as those of your colleagues. Thank you for being with us today.
I want to pick up on a couple of things already said, and then I have my own questions. I want to reinforce what Senator Raine was mentioning that NATA, the association of private operators in the North, are ready to do that inventory, and ready to plug into the network of networks. They have made an offer, and we hope it goes somewhere.
In terms of the nature of SARs responses that Major Lafrance was speaking of in response to Senator Poirier’s questions, we were just in Quebec City meeting with the Coast Guard. As we understand it, the majority of SAR responses in this more southern region, say the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes, is with recreational boaters, if we are looking at maritime incidents. In the North, at least until now, it tends to be more with hunters, trappers and fishermen — hunters and trappers who are caught off guard with ice melting.That may change, as you were saying, as the Arctic ice opens up to more usage. I just wanted to clarify that.
I have three questions. The first is, as we’re talking with the Coast Guard, because our study is on maritime search and rescue, we heard from them the important role you play. There is, as you know, a move to create a new Arctic region that the Coast Guard will be establishing over a period of time for maritime search and rescue and other purposes. I want to know what impact that might have on your work out of Trenton.
The second question, you briefly mentioned, Major-General Seymour, the ranger program. I would like to hear a little bit more about the ranger program and how that ties in with your other work, and with the work of the Coast Guard and the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary, when we’re talking about maritime search and rescue.
We did hear one small conflict — that in the ranger program those community-based volunteers are paid, and the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary are not. When they’re trying to recruit more auxiliary in the North there’s a bit of a conflict because there’s an expectation. Anyway, I would like to hear more about the program.
Then, of course, an opportunity for any one of you, or all of you. We are trying to make recommendations in this report for improving both aspects of maritime SAR. Prevention, you covered nicely. We understand the focus for maritime search and rescue and the need to put a lot of emphasis on prevention. What do you think in your opinion can be done to improve prevention? Then, of course, what are your recommendations for improving response? Thank you.
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: Thank you very much for the questions. What I will do is try to answer them sequentially and then ask my colleagues to supplement.
Through my relationship with the Canadian Coast Guard, I co-chair the federal SAR operations governance committee with the Canadian Coast Guard. I know Greg Lick has appeared before you many times. We talk a lot about the Arctic. We hosted in Halifax last week the Arctic security forces round table where we combined with our colleagues from Denmark, Sweden, Great Britain, Norway and others to talk about security issues in the Arctic. Part of that discussion tended towards search and rescue response in the Arctic, particularly with regard to the Arctic Coast Guard forum that our Coast Guard is involved in.
The changes in the North I referred to in my opening remarks, I think that’s why the Canadian Coast Guard is talking about setting up an Arctic region, recognizing that there’s an increase in maritime traffic because of the opening up of the water ways and the need to focus on that more closely.
In terms of the impact of our work out of Trenton in the RCC, I suggest that bolsters the strength of the network and the response. While the Coast Guard has capacity and they are operating up there, and as they set things up to focus more on the Arctic as the water way opens, they’re getting increased capability in terms of ice breakers coming on stream and other ships being built. When they have other people focusing on the Arctic and building those relationships with that network, it can only enhance the response.
I have to put in a plug for the things the Canadian Armed Forces are doing to improve our response in the Arctic. You have been briefed on the Arctic offshore patrol ship. Last week in Halifax we sailed by that vessel which is taking shape and it will be launched sometime this fall. When it does, we’re looking forward to playing that role, supporting and supplementing in the North. The five to six ships that will appear in the North will enhance our capacity.
The other thing you’re aware of is the improvements of satellites. The RADARSAT constellation mission, communication activities in the North, to me, all of those things overlay with the establishment by the Coast Guard of an Arctic region to enhance our ability to know what’s going on. Awareness is a big part, and then respond with assets that are there in the Arctic region. I think Major Lafrance would agree that is a net benefit to what goes on for her.
The ranger program is a fabulous program and in Halifax last week we had a ranger from Pond Inlet, Nunavut there to talk to our partners who were envious we have the program. The ranger program is a volunteer program through the First Nations and others living and present in the North and who know the North. They have grown up in the North, and they understand what it takes to live in those communities and work on the land. The gentlemen who briefed us last week, we asked him how he got his snow mobile. He provides his own equipment, but the Canadian Armed Forces provide a rifle, ammunition, training and pay when they are called out. However, he had to buy his own snowmobile, which he picked up in Yellowknife and then drove over 4000 kilometres to Pond Inlet, hunting along the way to feed himself.
This is a fantastic program we use for many things. They are a supplement to the search and rescue network. While they may not appear on the slide, if there’s an incident in an area where we have a ranger patrol, we have at our disposal the ability to call out the ranger patrol to assist. We use them all the time. I can give additional information that will show you the numbers, the location and those kinds of things. We can take that on notice and provide it to you. It’s fantastic and we’re proud of it.
I know there’s an issue. There are only so many folks in the North, and the success of that program has bred a desire on the part of the Coast Guard to recruit more people from the communities. There’s a tendency that some folks are wearing multiple hats. We pay the rangers, which is good, but if the Coast Guard folks are being compensated in other ways there may be an issue of how we attract folks, because we pay them and others don’t. I think they are looking at that. I think they also provide the auxiliary some equipment, which is certainly compelling.
In terms of the prevention piece, I think there’s much that can be done in the North. One example is we’ve seen an increase in snowmobile accidents and people going through the ice. Because of global warming issues, whether or not you believe it, things are changing and it happens. Seasonal ice is getting thinner in some locations and people fall through the ice more. One of the issues I brought up last year with public safety in our discussions is a program of communication to let people know they need to be more careful when operating their snowmobiles on frozen lakes and rivers. That is an aspect of prevention. I think that’s an area where there are a lot of things that could be done to improve awareness.
That particular piece is an example, but also making sure people are well equipped. For example, in the North there’s a new generation of folks who are less able to operate and work on the land and get around because they’re relying on technology. When your GPS battery dies and you’re on your snowmobile a long way away from your community, how do you get home? Quite often we’ve seen them get stuck and we’ve been called out to help in a search and rescue situation. Having folks understand how to work and live on the land and not just rely on technology is an important part of the prevention piece. I’d suggest there’s a range of other things that can be done on the prevention side that falls within the public safety mandate for coordination.
I would also say that each of the RCCs, and I think Myrian will tell you the same thing, do outreach. On the coasts and in the Trenton region, they go out to community and boating organizations to talk about the kinds of things people can do to take care of themselves and make sure they don’t become a search and rescue call out incident. That’s an example of what we do proactively to deal with the prevention piece.
In terms of recommendations for improving response, I think the work you’re doing to shed light on search and rescue issues and the issues of prevention is a great step. Making Canadians aware of the challenges of operating on the land, in the water and the air is an important part of what you do. I think the programs the Canadian Armed Forces and our colleagues in the Coast Guard and the folks in public safety are embarking upon are all measures that will collectively combine to enhance overall SAR response.
Some of the things I have described, in my opening comments and just now, I think we’re on a good trend to improve search and rescue response overall in Canada. I know that was long, but if you wish, I could ask my colleagues to fill in where I may have missed things.
Senator Coyle: Thank you. Basically what I’m hearing is you’re satisfied with the trend and where things are going.
You don’t have major preoccupations to put before us here right now?
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: No, I don’t have major preoccupations, senator.
Senator Coyle: Thank you.
The Deputy Chair: Are there any comments from you, Lieutenant-Colonel Nelles or Major Lafrance?
Maj. Lafrance: Thank you, ma’am, for your question. If the Coast Guard establishes a Northern region — and currently it’s Northern Central and Arctic — it’s absolutely going to enhance our ability to respond.
As far as the Ranger program, we utilize them through Joint Task Force North when we’re able. We’re also going to use the Coast Guard Auxiliary and CASARA as well. Like General Seymour said, the folks up North are wearing multiple hats. Sometimes it can be challenging to request the proper assets for the proper response we want on the ground.
As far as the Coast Guard having a greater presence up North, currently some folks from the North are training here in Trenton on the inshore rescue boats. They’re going to open a unit of the inshore rescue boats up in Rankin Inlet by the end of June. We’re going to actively utilize their services, when needed, up North. That’s a project to see how it’s going to work. We believe it’s going to work very well. Hopefully, they will be more inshore rescue boat units in the future in the North.
Following that, on the prevention aspect, like General Seymour said, we’re doing a lot of outreach with the communities. We explain how they can contact us when they are in trouble. Not only that, but we let them know how to sustain the wait. Like James said, it could be seven to eight hours, depending on where they are, before we get to them. If they are able to sustain the wait, that could be the difference between life and death.
We do a lot of outreach. The communities up North are also coming up with their own ways of doing business. They’re making sure before anybody goes out either on the sea or land, they register at the emergency management organization and leave a plan of where they intend to go. This way, we have a search plan in case something goes wrong.
They’re also going to provide them with a personal locater beacon, PLB. It’s a 406 beacon. If they get into trouble, they can just press that and then the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre here in Trenton will be alerted. From there they inform the proper JRCC and initiate a response right away.
Those are ways we try to minimize the search and make the response faster in the North.
Lt.-Col. James: Will I be able to expand on this question?
The Deputy Chair: Please go ahead.
Lt.-Col. James: I know it’s been some time, but very quickly I want to give an example of what General Seymour and Myrian were talking about. We recently had a search and rescue incident where a 25-year-old woman was on her snowmobile and had a head injury due to an accident. We were called on that with the C-138 and the Griffon. In the background, the RCC was cooperating with JTSN to get a Ranger who was available to go and do exactly what Myrian talked about: provide first aid for that individual until we could get there. The Herc being the fastest of the two aircraft, arrived first and deployed the two SAR techs to the area, who relieved the Ranger and provided further medical care, at which time the CH 146 Griffon helicopter arrived and was able to extract that individual to a safe location to medevac out.
As far as the importance of our partners and the Ranger program, I want to highlight that as a tangible example of how that system works.
Second, I want to touch upon the prevention piece. One thing we do tactically is fly everywhere in our region. When we stop for fuel at these places, we’re able to do some outreach. When people see the Hercules or the Griffon arrive at their local airport, they come out and ask why. That gives us a reason to be able to discuss the SAR system with them.
Last, General Seymour had comments about improvements to the system. I don’t think he mentioned fixed-wing SAR. This is one of the key aspects that’s going to reduce our searching techniques. It will be a total paradigm shift on how we search, from a fixed-wing perspective.
The Deputy Chair: Thank you.
Senator Christmas: First, I want to also share my gratitude for Nancy Greene Raine’s services on the committee. I’m a newer senator as well. It’s been a pleasure working with her. She certainly models how a senator should work. Thank you, Nancy.
I will also express my appreciation for the work and the service the Canadian Armed Forces do in terms of SAR operations. My community benefited directly from your expertise. We’re a coastal fishing community. A number of years ago, one of our fishing vessels sank. All our crew was rescued by your personnel. I have a deep appreciation for the amazing work you do.
Last year, I had the opportunity to travel with this committee to Newfoundland and Labrador, and had a chance to visit the Gander base and the one at Happy Valley-Goose Bay. One of the comments that stuck in my mind was there was some difficulty in retaining SAR personnel, especially SAR technicians, within the forces.
Do you have that same challenge in your area?
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: I’d offer that up to Lieutenant-Colonel Nelles, who oversees that within 1 Canadian Air Division. Then I’ll ask our other colleagues to fill in where necessary.
Lt.-Col. Nelles: Thank you, senator, for the question. I monitor closely what we’ll call the health of our SAR tech cadre. In recent years, the physical demands of the job tend to be showing on our personnel and manifesting themselves in some injuries and injury rates, which at the end of the day, reduces the number of personnel on the front line to take up the yoke and provide day-to-day SAR coverage.
We’re seeing a bit of a spiral effect of the demands of the job on the person. As a community, we are experiencing higher than desired levels of short-term health issues that affect the ability to deeply distribute the job and task of daily SAR standby commitments.
We’re trying to address that. The mechanism to generate new personnel is not a fast one. It takes no less than a year for new members to train to become search and rescue technicians. Then it’s a three- to four-month process to get them newly qualified onto the aircraft themselves.
We find ourselves a bit behind with a bit of a power curve to overcome recent trends in injury rates and the effects those have on our population network.
We’re looking at plans to overcome that. We’ve increased the throughput, or the acceptance, of the number of search and rescue technicians into the trade on an annual basis from 16 to 20. Over the next three to four years, we expect that to have a positive impact on the overall health of the SAR tech community.
I hope that helps give you an understanding.
Senator Christmas: Does that then affect your readiness?
Lt.-Col. Nelles: No, it does not affect our readiness. At the base level, for Lieutenant-Colonel James and all the other five primary SAR units, we are not experiencing what we’ll call a gap in coverage.
We’ve got personnel to respond to first missions and replace those personnel so we have continuity of SAR. It poses a challenge to meet all of the additional administrative requirements that come into play in keeping organizations healthy. It affects the ability to have dedicated training crews who are not otherwise a part of the SAR standby response of the day.
It poses some challenges for us but we’re not at any point of a crisis whereby we’re experiencing gaps in SAR coverage on a regular, routine basis.
Senator Christmas: You mentioned, General, the exercise that you’re proposing to do this summer, Ready Soteria. Do you also propose to test the readiness of civilian or commercial assets as well during this exercise?
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: The answer is the exercise involves not just military partners but our community partners. We also have international observers who are coming to monitor.
There’s a rolling series of preparations that will conclude in a live fly exercise, again, involving not just military folks but all those who are participating in the response, which includes Canadian Army elements, Air Force elements and some Coast Guard observers who make all of that work into the complete plan that is a response to a major air disaster.
I would also highlight through discussions and our relationship with the Coast Guard we’re going to refine and redevelop the major maritime disaster plans across the country.
Right now there are three, one for each coast and one for the Great Lakes. We’re looking to make sure they all look the same and we also want to integrate our major air disaster plan with the maritime plans so that all of those function well together. Realistically, if there’s an incident in the North, we’re probably going to respond collectively. Those plans should be well meshed and work together.
Senator McInnis: It’s nice of you to be here. I too want to acknowledge Senator Greene Raine for her tremendous dedication to the Senate, particularly to this committee. The committee is going to be void of representation from the Pacific area; I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to replace you, senator. I think it’s important that you always brought that perspective in a very eloquent and effective way. Thank you very, very much.
Money is never an object. We never concern ourselves with money when it comes to search and rescue. Do you have a breakout of what the budget would be in the Trenton and Arctic and that particular area? What would the annual cost be?
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: Senator, I have no idea, to be honest. I’m not sure if our colleagues on VTC have a generalized figure. It’s probably in their own unit budgets. In terms of a rollout cost for search and rescue broken down by that region, I’m not sure if you have anything.
Lt.-Col. Nelles: I’m sorry, sir, not at my level. We don’t have that kind of outlook or cost distribution.
Lt.-Col. James: Apologies, chair. From Trenton, we do not have that information either.
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: We’ll get back to you. We’ll have to break down the costs of running the rescue coordination centre, the cost of running the squadrons and the cost of the SAR call-outs.
Senator McInnis: You could do it for the country. It would be nice to have and to see what the costs are.
The other question I have is with this Northern Air Transport Association. They have 703 — I read this somewhere — air carriers. How many incidents would they be involved in? Are they compensated for their participation?
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: Senator, I know they are. Essentially, when they get called out there’s a contract so they are paid under a contract to execute that call-out. My colleagues can correct me if I’m wrong.
In terms of the number of actual call-outs, my colleagues might have some data. I think I looked that up and tabbed a page.
Bear with me. While I look, perhaps my colleagues can shed some light on that question.
Maj. Lafrance: Thank you for the question, senator. I don’t have the exact number of how many times we chartered aircraft up in the North. There is a contract prepared each time we need a chartered aircraft and prior to them leaving.
It’s transparent. We’re going to send the people because that’s what’s most important. We want to save lives. We send them and then we deal with the contract. Usually I deal with the contract while my people on the ground floor will take care of the mission. The mission is transparent.
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: I have some 2015 data. For JRCC Trenton charters, there were seven civilian charters and they flew 19.3 hours. I’ve got a breakdown of what those were. We could provide you updated information for 2017 on how many times we contracted with civilian charters to help with SAR.
Senator McInnis: They’re on the ground, they are there, but their equipment wouldn’t be near as effective as yours would be, is that correct? The only difference would be the time element of responding.
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: There is the time element of responding and the very basic search tool, which is the Mark I Eyeball, to be able to see something on the ground and then locate it.
I’m not familiar with the capabilities of those. They may have some electro-optical devices to be able to see things. Chances are they probably don’t. I think you’re correct in that, senator.
Senator McInnis: The older plane is the Hercules, is it?
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: The C-130H.
Senator McInnis: Some of them have been replaced?
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: The intent is the new fixed-wing SAR project was going to bring on 16 C295 aircraft equipped with modern sensors and communications suites. They will ultimately replace all of the old legacy Hercules aircraft operated out of Trenton, Winnipeg and Greenwood. They will also replace the Buffalo aircraft operated out of Comox.
Senator McInnis: One of the concerns was the distance with the new airplane would be less. Is that a concern?
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: I’d suggest that when you’re bringing in any kind of airplane, there are trade-offs in terms of distance, endurance and those kinds of things. I think Lieutenant-Colonel James can shed some light on the range of the C295, which I think is somewhat shorter than the Hercules. But what you may lose you make up for in the number of airplanes we have overall — so increased capacity — and then the technology used to actually conduct search. We’re going to do less search because of reduced search times, making that platform all the more effective.
Any supplement from my colleagues?
Lt.-Col. Nelles: Absolutely right. There are going to be trade-offs. It’s not an exact replacement for aircraft type but it’s a capability we’re introducing.
The fundamental change is a sensor-based aircraft. Something new to the search and rescue community is the adoption of sensors to increase the level of capability to affect our mission.
In terms of overall range, this is only measured in terms of a tank load of gas.
There are places to refuel on your way to most every destination. The procurement is meant to have an aircraft that can reach all locations within our search and rescue area of responsibility. Whether that plane has to stop and refuel at a point, it’s not got as great a range as a legacy aircraft. We will be replacing the Buffalo aircraft, which has an even shorter range than what the 295 might have otherwise.
Yes, there are trade-offs. The big enhancement is the fact it has sensor-based technologies. This is going to improve our search capability beyond our existing capability, which is limited by our own eyes.
We’ll be able to see through phenomena such as cloud and haze and precipitation. We’re going to see much further away and be able to start to interrogate an area for a search and rescue distress site long before we would have been able to with our traditional platforms and capabilities.
Senator Raine: Last night on CTV news, I saw an interesting item that talked about the CF-18 in the wind tunnel. They had a pod which was going to add capacity for looking for military targets, but also they mentioned it would be able to be used in search and rescue. Do you have any comment on that? It was really interesting. It’s on the web so people could look at it.
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: Senator, thanks for that. I’m a CP-140 navigator, and we’ve had those sensors for a long time. That kit is probably an evolution of what they call the sniper pod of the F-18. It does allow to you look for the targets. The challenge is you are looking through a soda straw. You need to have a very focused area of look when you want to look for particular targets optimized for bombing.
You’re looking through a soda straw, but you can certainly find things with that targeting pod. The principle is similar in terms of the sensors that are going on the 295, but you have a broader area of look the operator can manipulate in terms of a wider or narrower field of view and a whole bunch of tools to switch back and forth between different looks that enhances an ability to pick things up.
That’s pretty cool technology; so is the stuff coming on the 295.
Senator Raine: Thank you.
Senator Coyle: Just back to this Arctic region and climate change. We heard it definitely impacts the possible demand for marine search and rescue, as there’s more marine and less ice because some people are in charge of the solid stuff and some are the liquid stuff. There’s getting to be more liquid up there for longer periods.
I’m also on the Arctic Committee. We’ve been hearing a lot from scientists and community members and others. One of the things we’re hearing is that with the melting of the permafrost, there are some very dangerous and serious issues with the airstrips scattered throughout the North. Some of them are already not of the best quality.
Do the forces have their own landing infrastructure in the North, or do you rely on the infrastructure that’s there? From what you have seen, what is being done to mitigate those changes?
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: I’ll provide some comments, senator, and allow my colleagues to shade in.
Interestingly, I was in Alaska a couple of weeks ago. I visited a research centre outside of Fairbanks that was looking into challenges with the permafrost. We went into a tunnel they had drilled in the side of a mountain. I was able to see the inside of the permafrost, 35,000 years old, mammoth bones and tusks sticking out. They’re studying the difficulties associated with engineering challenges created by climate change, which is affecting the permafrost.
It manifested in a number of locations up North. It’s certainly something that our engineers are paying attention to for the Canadian Forces infrastructure up North.
As you look to enhance certain facilities in the Arctic as a part of Strong, Secure, Engaged, which is very much looking at having a greater presence and greater capability to operate up North, paying attention to the engineering challenges created by changes in the permafrost is one of those things. I can’t give you specific examples about the infrastructure piece. I will tell you we’re paying attention to it. There are other dimensions to that.
We did an exercise with the U.S. Coast Guard off of Alaska in preparation for the Crystal Serenity’s first cruise two years ago. When you do a search and rescue off the coast and are getting folks off a large cruise ship which may have had an incident, you have to take them to shore, to ground. The ground you’re working on will likely involve permafrost. When you have relocated all these patients to permafrost and landed airplanes — helicopters, specifically — and then search and rescue crews on the permafrost. Operating on permafrost came with its own challenges. We learned things with the U.S. Coast Guard and our own SAR crews about working on permafrost.
That’s one of the challenges of dealing with a large maritime disaster in the North. You have to get them off the water, off a ship, onto land, and on land creates a new host of challenges to deal with. It’s a very real issue, senator, and we’re certainly aware of and looking at it.
The Deputy Chair: Today, and in many appearances before this committee, we have heard and been concerned about response times up North, given the distances and where the assets are located.
We’ve had three different recommendations made to our committee over the course of this study to address this concern. The first is that the Armed Forces should station a Cormorant helicopter in the central Arctic during the busy season, say the summer months. The second recommendation is the Canadian Armed Forces should deploy a Hercules aircraft, or an equivalent, in Yellowknife or Iqaluit. Those two locations have military assets on the ground, and the aircraft could be stationed at the airport in both locations, and the crew could be housed in Canadian Forces barracks. The third recommendation is the Armed Forces might enter into a contract with existing private SAR helicopter companies, such as Cougar Helicopters, to provide SAR coverage in the Canadian Arctic.
In your opinion, what are the advantages and disadvantages of each option? Is there one you would like to see us recommend more than others?
Maj.-Gen. Seymour: Thanks for the question. That really gets to the nub of the issues you have been looking at over time. I’ll comment on each one of those and allow my colleagues to offer some feedback.
When you take the chart here — and having flown extensively up in Canada’s Arctic and all over the North — and I’ve been to the North Pole and back several times and I’ve flown through many of the communities up North — the thing you realize when you look at the map is it’s so vast. If you stationed one capability in the centre of the Arctic, ultimately you’re really no better off. While you may seem closer than Winnipeg or Trenton, depending on where the incident is, you’re going to have to make a transit somewhere. Those incidents vary. Statistics bear out that the optimal way to deal with search and rescue in the Arctic is to continue what we are doing.
In procuring the 295, the approach the government took to the procurement process was that we allowed the contractors to select the basing that best met the needs of the search and rescue requirements in Canada.
They could have put those airplanes anywhere. At the end of the day, the company that bid the 295 chose to station those airplanes at existing facilities because that’s where the population is. That’s where statistics show the search and rescue call-outs are. Consequently, that’s where you’re focusing your resources for the best effect. Then you have the ability, from those bases, to push assets up North.
This is why I made the strong pitch about the network of networks. When we talk specifically about dedicated SAR assets, the 295, the helicopters, the Cormorants, the 146s, are all an element of the first line SAR capability.
We didn’t talk about second line SAR capabilities. In the North, in Yellowknife, we have three Twin Otters that are responsible to Joint Task Force North and the air force that ferry Canadian Forces personnel around the North and work in the North. Those secondary SAR assets are also available to Myrian when she needs to do a SAR callout.
What is also not discussed is because we are increasing our activity in the North, we’re doing more exercises up North — we have a Canadian Forces presence up North — that capability is also available to conduct a SAR callout. When there was an airplane crash a number of years back in Resolute Bay, we were doing an exercise there.
My brother was there at the time and was one of those folks who went out to the airplane. We responded very quickly.
Our presence in the North, by virtue of what we’re doing to push capability up there, also facilitates that SAR callout. It’s not a matter of answering the question of putting one Cormorant helicopter in a location up North to respond to some unknown SAR incident where we don’t know what’s going to happen. When you make that decision, you’re sacrificing capability down South, and you may not then, based on the position you’ve taken, be able to respond to any of those incidents that occur over there. It may not be optimal.
In either case, you’re going to be having another discussion in front of the committee about how come a helicopter in X location wasn’t able to respond to Y? The system of systems and the network of networks approach is the optimal way of looking at the SAR problem up there.
It’s the same thing with the Hercules. You could station one up North at certain periods. In time, with increased traffic and population growth — we’re talking decades, probably — reexamining that, which we do on an annual basis. This seems prudent to me. You’re constantly revisiting the requirement to position our assets. We do that each year.
On SAR posture, as you heard from my colleagues, we adjust our SAR posture based on an analysis of the data of where search and rescue incidents occurred last year, and then we adjust the timing. The location of assets can be adjusted to account for changes. In Nova Scotia, for example, during lobster season or in B.C. during herring season, we actually put assets on a shorter tether or deploy them closer down to Yarmouth so they can respond. If there’s a demand based on an identified series of trends where we need to push assets out to other locations in Canada, we would take that step in order to be more responsive.
Of those three options, we would look at the first two where it makes sense. I think it happens in other parts of the country, just not necessarily in the North. The contracting vehicle being able to do what we currently doing or a bit better, based on your suggestions, is the most viable to utilize them as a system of systems.
The best approach would be contracted air assets working in the North, a better database where that can happen more quickly — not that there are any particular issues with it, as I understand it — and then using that network of networks, not only Canadian Forces assets but all the other things we’ve talked about to respond. That to me is your best approach to dealing with search and rescue in the North.
The Deputy Chair: With that, it remains for me to thank you and your colleagues for joining us today. Your testimony was helpful, illuminating and will advance the progress we’re making in our study.
(The committee adjourned.)