The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is pleased with the face-to-face discussions that took place with federal cabinet ministers and officials in Ottawa last week on advancing improvements in federal search and rescue operations in Labrador.
The discussions were jointly led by the Honourable Lisa Dempster, Minister Responsible for Labrador Affairs and Minister Responsible for Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation, and the Honourable John Hogan, KC, Minister of Justice and Public Safety and Attorney General. Joining the Ministers was a group comprised of community leaders and safety advocates who voiced appeals for improvements in light of the death of Burton Winters, a 14-year-old youth from the north coast community of Makkovik who was found deceased by searchers on sea ice in 2012, and the deaths of Marc Russell and Joey Jenkins, who were lost at sea during a fishing mishap off the southeast coast of Labrador in 2021.
The delegation included:
- Perry Trimper, MHA for Lake Melville
- Todd Russell, President, NunatuKavut Community Council;
- Dwight and Jeanette Russell of Mary’s Harbour; and
- George Andrews, Mayor of Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
A series of meetings were held with:
- The Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of Emergency Preparedness;
- The Honourable Marco Mendicino, Minister of Public Safety;
- The Honourable Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport;
- The Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations;
- The Honourable Gudie Hutchings, Minister of Rural Economic Development; and
- The Honourable Yvonne Jones, MP for Labrador and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Northern Affairs.
The Provincial Government advised the Federal Government of its request for immediate action in the following areas:
- Designation of 5 Wing Goose Bay as a Search and Rescue Centre;
- Establishment of fast rescue stations and marine craft located in Labrador; and
- A requirement that all vessels of any size are equipped with an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. This is a distress beacon that sends an alert to assist rescuers in determining an exact location quickly.
The Provincial Government appreciates the short-term actions presented by Minister Blair, and welcomes the opportunity to work in collaboration with the Federal Government on establishing medium- and long-term assets and solutions to improve federal search and rescue operations in Labrador.
Quotes
“I would like to thank my colleagues in the Federal Government for coming to the table to hear us speak about the lack of search and rescue infrastructure in Labrador and suggestions on how they can improve federal systems as dictated by their responsibility for marine and aeronautical search and rescue services. I am proud of our collective voice and the arguments we presented to make the strong case that immediate action is necessary. While this was a good first step and we are encouraged by the willingness we heard from our federal colleagues to work with the Provincial Government and stakeholders in Labrador, we have every intention to press for substantive and meaningful changes that are long overdue.”
Honourable Lisa Dempster
Minister Responsible for Labrador Affairs
Minister Responsible for Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation
“Our government recognizes the importance of search and rescue in the province. We continue to support ground search and rescue and look forward to further discussions with the Federal Government regarding enhancements to areas under federal jurisdiction, particularly in Labrador. We are committed to working with all of our partners to strengthen search and rescue in Newfoundland and Labrador.”
Honourable John Hogan, KC
Minister of Justice and Public Safety and Attorney General
“Every employee has the right to feel protected in their place of work. Our son’s chosen workplace was the ocean as established by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans through his fishing license. Through the granting of fishing licenses and regulations, the Federal Government has a responsibility to deliver adequate search and rescue infrastructure to protect the Labrador fishers they have authorized. We reminded the Minister of Emergency Preparedness of the metal detectors that protect federal employees working on Parliament Hill. We asked him to think of Marc and Joey when he walks through security and help us offer the same measure of protection for Labrador. During a time of increasing emergency preparedness in workplaces, search and rescue in Labrador has to be afforded the same attention.”
Dwight and Jeanette Russell
Safety Advocates
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Final Report of the Ground Search and Rescue Inquiry Released
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