Labrador residents push MP for better search services

People in Labrador are telling their MP that recent changes to search and rescue protocols in the region are not good enough.

Kirk Lethbridge, a spokesman for a steering committee of concerned residents, says getting a call back to respond to an emergency isn't adequate.

"It's not about how many times I call the ambulance if you fall down and have a heart attack, or if I fall down and have a heart attack, or how many times the ambulance calls me back," Lethbridge said. "It's about having a damn ambulance. We want something here that can go look for our kids."

Peter Penashue, the Labrador MP and a federal cabinet minister, explained the changes Ottawa has made to the call-back protocol at a public meeting in Happy Valley-Goose Bay yesterday.

The changes come after the death of 14-year-old Burton Winters in northern Labrador. The military has been criticized for its slow response to help in the search.

When the military was initially called the morning after Winters was reported missing, weather and then mechanical problems kept two Griffon helicopters in Goose Bay grounded. Civilian choppers joined the search.

Under the previous protocol, the onus then reverted to the searchers to call the military a second time. In the Winters case, that didn’t happen until more than 48 hours after the boy was reported missing.

Winters was found dead on the ice a day after that. He had walked 19 kilometres from his abandoned snowmobile.

Under the new policy, the military will call back to see if help is still required, instead of waiting to be contacted again.

But on Thursday, Defence Minister Peter MacKay rejected increasing military search and rescue capabilities in Labrador beyond the two Griffon helicopters currently in the region.

Public meeting

Penashue spoke with more than 50 concerned citizens in a standing-room-only Happy Valley-Goose Bay meeting room yesterday.

For people at the meeting like Gary Mitchell, the changes don't go far enough.

"All the rallies we had for search and rescue in Labrador and all the people coming together," Mitchell said. "I think this is an insult to the people of Labrador that Peter MacKay is going to make one small rule change in regard to 'Don't phone us we'll phone you.'"

People at the meeting said they will continue to fight for a dedicated search and rescue base for Labrador.

"The Canadian Forces are constantly looking at their posture when it comes to search and rescue assets," he said. "We have determined that the current posture is one which fits the needs and the availability."

Griffon helicopters are considered secondary search and rescue assets. Their main role is for training purposes, not search and rescue.

There are no primary assets, such as Cormorant helicopters, based in Labrador.