XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, van.general   
   XPost: vic.general   
   From: Cons"@cdn.ca   
      
   CBC News - Dec 3, 2012   
      
      
   Officials say they'll have to wait for the next high tide to float Black   
   Duck off the rocks.   
      
      
   No one was injured when a military training vessel ran aground near   
   Powell River, B.C., on Monday.   
      
   Nine people aboard Black Duck had to be rescued after the vessel ran up   
   on some rocks on Vivian Island just before noon.   
      
   "There were no injuries and the vessel was aground and beginning to tilt   
   a little bit as the tide was lowering, so we had the Coast Guard   
   lifeboat out of Powell River and also the Cormorant helicopter out of 19   
   Wing Comox respond," said Capt. Pat McSorley is with the Rescue   
   Coordination Centre in Victoria.   
      
   McSorley says weather was fair at the time of the grounding.   
      
   It's believed Comox will have to wait for the next high tide to float   
   Black Duck off the rocks.   
   _______________________________________   
      
   MAY 18, 2012   
      
   Mayors angry over federal coast guard cuts without consultation   
      
   VANCOUVER - B.C. mayors are slamming the federal government's decision   
   to close coast guard stations in Vancouver, Comox and Ucluelet, saying   
   they were taken by surprise on an important safety service.   
      
   Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said officials were caught off gaurd   
   and concerned by the Harper government's announcement that the Kitsilano   
   search-and-rescue station would be closing.   
      
   "There's been no consultation, nothing with our police and fire and   
   rescue service, who are the default backup if there is an issue," said   
   Robertson.   
      
   The next closest coast guard search-and-rescue station to the Vancouver   
   harbour is located at the airport, 17 nautical miles from the Kitsilano   
   station.   
      
   More than 1,000 coast guard and fisheries employees have received notice   
   their jobs may be in jeopardy as the federal government implements   
   budget cuts.   
      
   Three out of five coast guard communications centres in British Columbia   
   will also close, as services are centralized in Victoria and Prince Rupert.   
      
   In Comox, where a communications centre will be closed down, Mayor Paul   
   Ives said valuable local knowledge will be lost, making the waterways   
   off the coast of Vancouver Island more dangerous.   
      
   "There's lots of islands, lots of reefs and shallow spots," said Ives.   
      
   "I don't want to be alarmist, but the same kind of discussions have been   
   had about the closure of lighthouses. At some point, when you're cutting   
   away what is perceived to be excess capacity, you're cutting into the   
   bone of the services being provided.   
      
   "We all have to live with tighter budgets, but I wonder if the people in   
   Ottawa really understand what they're doing here."   
   __________________________   
      
   Obviously not . . . .   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)