Canada's search and rescue area extends over 15 million square kilometers of land and sea and encompasses the world's longest coastline. The Canadian Forces work in concert with other government departments, provincial authorities and volunteer organizations to deliver search and rescue response capability.
All Canadian Forces aircraft can be called upon to assist in search and rescue efforts. Our government has increased the department's aircraft fleet, adding twelve new Hercules CC-130Js and increased the defence budget by $8 billion since taking office. Because of this, last year our technicians responded to 9,470 incidents, helping to save hundreds of lives.
Departmental officials inform me the current readiness posture is both optimal and effective. Military members and departmental officials routinely evaluate processes and capacities following search and rescue responses and incidents to ensure that the resources and posture are best suited to meet the needs of Canadians.
We know no amount of money stems the pain and suffering felt by the families who have lost loved ones. We mourn their losses, and remain committed to ensuring search and rescue technicians have the flexibility, equipment and readiness necessary to save Canadians.
The North Atlantic Ocean is one of the most hostile marine environments in the world. Thousands of Canadians who make their living from the fishery, merchant shipping and offshore oil and gas go about their work in the shadow of ever-present danger. Their lives depend on a thinly spread and vulnerable system of search and rescue vessels, planes and helicopters.
In "Mayday," the fifth estate examines the troubling state of Canada's maritime search and rescue network. You'll hear from the survivors who were lucky enough to survive brushes with death, and tell stories of those who perished in the raging sea waiting for a helicopter rescue that never came. You'll meet the insider who grounded Canada's fleet of new Cormorant search and rescue choppers after finding major cracks in a key part of the tail rotor system-and now says he paid for his diligence with his job.
Once widely admired, now plagued with problems, our maritime rescue fleet now has one of the slowest emergency response times in the world. The fifth estate's Linden MacIntyre asks why the Department of National Defence believes three helicopters are sufficient to cover the search and rescue needs of an area the size of Europe, and why required response times can stretch up to two hours — while private operators require rescue crews to be in the air within 20 minutes of a distress call.
