Rescuers hope life-saving list will save Kits Coast Guard

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – People working at the Kitsilano Coast Guard Station are rolling out some numbers, hoping they’ll get you on their side in a fight to keep the station open. They are planning to release the total lives they’ve saved this year, but already have compiled some other stats.

Dave Clark with the Union of Canadian Transportation Employees says for 70 years, there’s been a need for a Coast Guard base in Vancouver.

“You’ve got 1.4 million cruise ship passengers, 120,000 float plane movements, and thousands of deep sea cargo ships going through our port every year, not even including the 12,000 passengers a day on the SeaBus,” explains Clark.

He says with that kind of traffic, the need for quick rescue responses in inevitable.

“There’s over 100,000 moored vessels in the Greater Vancouver area. I’m not sure how it’s not a need,” feels Clark. “We’ve seen the price tag is around $800,000. It doesn’t seem like a big cost savings like the government is stating. It sounds like they’re risking lives.”

Clark adds the closure would mean staging rescues from Sea Island, 17 nautical miles and about 30 minutes away. He says people saved by the base need to speak up.

The union plans to release the number of lives saved by the Kitsilano Station in the past year at a news conference tomorrow.

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