After meeting with stakeholders who believe the decision will compromise safety, the federal fisheries minister says the Kitsilano Coast Guard station will still be closed at the end of this boating season.
Keith Ashfield insists safety will not be compromised because services lost at Kits point will be picked up the volunteer Royal Canadian Marine Search and Recscue.
“We have a lot of user groups that we want to talk to and we have our partners as well in search and rescue that we have to talk to determine what the final solution will be and we will work towards that.”
Ashfield has promised an extra $ 100,000 a year for the volunteer service to pick up the slack.
But NDP critic Peter Julian says the extra $ 100,000 won’t save lives.
“It is a federal responsibility the federal government should be funding it. To try and offload it onto municipalities and offload it onto the provincial government is simply the height of irresponsibility we have a clear from British Columbians a clear message from the city of Vancouver it is about time the government listened to that.”
Julian also questions why the government found $ 28 million for war of 1812 displays across the country and billions for F-35 jets, at the expense of Coast Guard cutbacks.
Julian says it is the same as replacing a fully staffed fire department with volunteers.
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