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Canadian Coast Guard seeks Inuit students for new inshore rescue boat

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Canadian Coast Guard seeks Inuit students for new inshore rescue boat

First info session slated Oct. 10 for Cambridge Bay

JANE GEORGE

This photo shows the kind of inshore rescue boat for which the Coast Guard plans to recruit eight Inuit students. (PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CCG)

CAMBRIDGE BAY—With a new rescue boat station planned for a location somewhere in the Canadian Arctic, the Coast Guard wants to recruit eight Inuit students who are ready to be trained for search-and-rescue operations on its new inshore rescue boat.

To kickstart the hiring process, the Coast Guard will hold five consultation and information sessions in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Nunavik, with a later teleconference for those who can’t attend scheduled sessions in Cambridge Bay, Inuvik, Kuujjuaq, Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet.

The goal of these sessions: to find students in college, university and other educational programs who are “team players, dependable, motivated and have previous experience or an interest in boating.”

They’ll also need to hold Standard First Aid and CPR certifications.

On the search-and-rescue boat, they will provide help to mariners in distress and work out of the new search-and-rescue boat station as part of a team of four people available 24-7.

The location of the boat station hasn’t been announced, but its funding flows from the federal government’s $175-million marine safety plan announced this past August in Cambridge Bay.

The maritime crew of the seasonal search-and-rescue boat will spend two weeks working 16 hours and day and then get two weeks off.

Successful candidates will have to show they’re in school and planning to return to school next year.

As an educational plus, they can count on training every summer and build on skills that could be useful in a career in the Coast Guard, said Coast Guard spokesperson Peter Garapick.

The sessions take place:

• Cambridge Bay, Oct. 10, 6:30 p.m., Canadian High Arctic Research Station;

• Inuvik, Oct. 12, 6:30 p.m., Midnight Sun complex;

• Kuujjuaq, Oct. 17, 6:30 p.m., Katittavik Town Hall;

• Iqaluit, Oct. 18, 6:30 p.m., Elders Qammaq; and,

* Rankin Inlet. Oct. 25. 8 p.m., Sinitarvik centre.

A teleconference is scheduled for Oct. 25 at 8 p.m. EST for those who can’t attend the sessions. If you’re interested, you can dial in 1-877-413-4788, conference ID 2831352.


(7) Comments:#1. Posted by Levi Eegeesiak on October 10, 2017

I’m on my second and final year Outdoor Adventire Program @ Algonquin College. Am I still a potential candidate?

#2. Posted by Freezer Boat on October 10, 2017


The Boats they get are all useless to the north well most I say and had they spend over with them boats cost too much they spend like $250K to $500K plus at times and sits around with the captain with no ideal were to go fast and takes a elder or whom they know the area with ,

appoint a young student and waiting for a accident to happened , how will they tell the truth what had happened , big picture short story , mother nature will get mad at them and see if the students will handle the rescue in fall season .

ear’s

#3. Posted by Hmmmm on October 10, 2017

So, this opportuntity is directed at students in school. I guess the fact that most of the students they are targeting are away at school and cannot attend this meeting either suggests the Coast Guard doesnt think we have any students in post secondary education, which is a bit condescending, or they think the only ones we might have go to the Arctic college. This is a really dumb time to have a career tour marketed to students who are learning outside the community. I hope you get what you are looking for, cos i think those kids aren’t here right now.

#4. Posted by Phil on October 10, 2017

Will there be a “rescue station” in every community? If not, considering the distances involved, this program’s effectiveness will be very limited.

#5. Posted by Captain Titannic on October 10, 2017

This is the stupidest idea to come out of Ottawa in a very long time.

One rescue boat for all of Nunavut. Rescues on the water usually happen in minutes, occasionally a couple of hours. With the distances in Nunavut, one boat is of possible use for only one community out of 25.

Rescue at sea requires knowing the area, the tides, the rocks, the shoals, and the winds. These take years of experience to learn. That’s why elders are appreciated for their knowledge. Students, not so much.

Rescue at sea requires being there when you are needed. Boating season varies from place to place in Nunavut, but basically 4 months, July to October. High school & college students are supposed to be in class in September and October. University students are usually working summer jobs in July & August and thousands of miles away in September and October.

Select and train 8 students, before even deciding where the boat will be based. What if you trained no one from the community with the boat?

#6. Posted by Get - a - grip on October 11, 2017

Good idea.If the people are there who can learn and perform. The tasks required to make successful water recues. Then perhaps other Nunavut hamlets will receive the same type of program.

#7. Posted by pissed off on October 11, 2017

I agree with you no.5
Unless someone explains what I did not understand, this is just a big PR stunt.

One boat for Nunavut!!!

They won`t get even to the next community in time in 99% of the cases. Search and rescue gets done by helicopters and planes. Travelling by boat is way too slow and risky.
Also you need intimate knowledge of the area you travel through. You will end up with a big fancy boat and facilities and a bunch of well paid guys playing cards all summer just in case Something happens in that neighborhood.

Dah!!!



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