Search and Rescue

Warning: This is a rant.

Today I found out we lost an airman, Sgt. Janick Gilbert, a Search and Rescue Technician (SARTEC) while saving a father and son who were on the water hunting for walrus outside the hamlet of Igloolik in Nunavut.

The call went out and it was in the AO (Area of Operation) of the CFB Trenton SAR office. A C-130 cargo plane with three SARTechs and a life raft took off and flew 2,820km up to Igloolik and dropped the raft. Then a CH-149 Cormorant was going to fly from Gander, Newfoundland, 2,700km away to pick up the rescue party and the father and son.The father and son were saved thankfully but somehow Sgt. Gilbert didn't make it.

I hope you can see what is bothering me. We had two people in trouble, and we had to send two different aircraft over 2,700km and those aircraft have to come back eventually. A C-130E Hercules has a cruise speed of 530km/h which meant it would take five hours to get to the scene and that's not including how long to spot those in need. Imagine being told that help is on the way and waiting five hours... That would be a life time. And what if you couldn't wait those five hours? Want to know what's even worse? A C-130E needs 3,586 ft to take off. Igloolik has an airport and it's 4,000ft long so it can take off and land easily.

Bottom line, I'm a Canadian citizen, and I feel that where ever I am in our great country, I think I should be able to get help as quickly as possible. If the government is serious about our sovereignty up north WE HAVE TO BE UP THERE! We can't be 2,700km away. We need a presence up in the north. Not just an operation once a year but a permanent presence.

Igloolik is just a hamlet so we'd need a place up north, not too desolate but useful to the arctic and luckily the Canadian Forces have thought of that. They do have a list of places to build a new base. That's not the problem. Same with everything, it comes down to money. Even if we have one C-130 and a helicopter in two points in the arctic, lets say Yellowknife, NWT and Iqualuit, NU. It wouldn't cost that much, a few million here and there as a temporary fix until we do build a permanent base. Now that we're out of Afghanistan and have an Air Force Chief of Defence Staff it could be funded but sadly I don't see it happening. Until it does stay in the southern half of Canada and don't be in need of rescue. Wish it was that easy.