Canadian Coast Guard crumbling

Let's hope the Conservative goverment does something serious here too, in addition to what it plans for the military. While the CCG is a civilian service it plays a vital role in asserting Canadian maritime sovereignty (including in the Arctic) and in conducting maritime seach and rescue in partnership with the Canadian Air Force (disclosure: I worked as a bureaucrat in the CCG from 1997 to 2002 - MC).

The federal government has approved an additional $45 million for the Canadian Coast Guard this year after it was told a cash injection was needed to keep many of its existing vessels ship shape.

But the government has yet to make a decision on the next phase of a possible replacement program for aging vessels experiencing ``rust-out.”

The $45 million covers just the annual shortfall in coast guard funding for core operations.

The coast guard became a special operating agency in 2005, giving it more autonomy within the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

But briefing notes prepared for Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn earlier this year suggested the coast guard’s future as an independent agency was threatened by the funding gap...

n 2005, the coast guard received $26 million in one-year interim funding to help bridge the annual gap. But the Department of Fisheries and Oceans had to cover any remaining deficit, the documents note.

Hearn confirmed that the additional $45 million in funding for 2006 has been approved.

The briefing papers advised that $12 million in capital spending was required per year by 2009-10 for fleet vessels and equipment restoration. The other $33 million was necessary to “stabilize” coast guard operations.

The funding infusion will enable the coast guard to carry out a series of refits to vessels, such as deck replacement and upgrading on the Cygnus and a major engine overhaul on the Pearkes.

The Conservatives are also following through with plans previously announced by the Liberals to spend $276 million on six new coast guard vessels.

There are also another four ships under construction for a joint coast guard-RCMP security enforcement program on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system...

That next phase would include the replacement of ships such as lifeboats, marine service vessels, mid-shore and offshore patrol vessels, hydrographic survey and science and research vessels.

Replacement of the icebreaking fleet won’t be considered until later — something that could change according to government priorities, according to the briefing notes...

Hearn said northern issues could play a role in any future coast guard initiatives.

“We might hopefully be able to enhance that to some degree, because one of the things we’re becoming much more conscious of is the need for a presence in the North,” Hearn noted.