BC’s Justice Minister will talk with the Federal Fisheries Minister about the Kits Coast Guard Base closure.
Shirley Bond says the two will talk early next week.
Asked if it was too little too late as the base is closed and Minister Keith Ashfield seems to have its mind made up, Bond said, “Well, I am going to continue to remind him that, especially today, that I don’t think we should be having a debate about whether to invest funds on the eastern coasts of Canada or the western coast of Canada. The federal responsibility is to make sure our coastline is safe.”
A day after closing Kits Base, Ottawa announced six million dollars will be spent to rebuild a Coast Guard Station in Newfoundland.
Bond says a small fraction of that cost could keep Kits Base open.
While BC’s Justice Minister prepares to plead with Ottawa to re-open Kits Coast Guard Base, the NDP’s Public Safety critic says the Province hasn’t done enough.
Kathy Corrigan says writing two letters falls well short of championing the case for Kits Base, “I think the Government has not done enough. One of the things we offered was to have a non-partisan united front from British Columbia go to Ottawa to plead the case to demonstrate that everybody in British Columbia, no matter what political stripe, is concerned about the safety of people on the waterways in British Columbia.”
Corrigan says the Federal Government showed “disdain” for people in BC by closing the base with no notice. She says it is unbelievable the Feds would then invest six million dollars rebuilding a station on the east coast.
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