TWO days to launch search and rescue for this boy . . . .

[Çons@32%]

Ottawa Citizen February 2, 2012

Investigation Launched Into Why It Took Nearly Two Days for Canadian Forces to Join in Search
for Missing Boy

The military has launched an investigation into why it took a search and rescue aircraft nearly
two days to join the search for a 14-year-old boy who eventually turned up dead.

The boy was reported missing Sunday from the Labrador community of Makkovik. His body was found
three days on the frozen Labrador Sea, about 19 kilometres from his snowmobile, according to
reports.

Politicians in Newfoundland and Labrador are asking why it took a military aircraft from Goose
Bay nearly two days before they joined the search. The military was requested Monday morning
but did not arrive until Tuesday night.

Randy Edmunds, a provincial Liberal, said searchers were told military aircraft weren’t
available Monday in the region because of maintenance issues.

Jack Harris, the NDP MP from St. John’s East, brought the issue up in the Commons Thursday. He
accused the Harper government of giving search and rescue a low priority, adding that “our
response times well behind international standards.”

“The government is closing down rescue coordinating centres and helicopters take two days to
start searching for a lost boy,” Harris said.

“How can a search and rescue helicopter be available to transport the Minister of National
Defence but not ready to search for a lost teenaged boy on the coast of Labrador?,” he added.

Associate Defence Minister Julian Fantino said he has asked Canadian Forces officials to look
into the incident. “I can inform the House that the Chief of Defence Staff has commenced an
investigation,” Fantino said.

“Search and rescue crews react as quickly as possible every time. We will get the answer and it
is forthcoming,” he stated.

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But no such delay for the goddamn Harper Conservative assholes who used the helicopters - and
abused taxpayer money . . . .
________________________________________________

Ottawa Citizen February 6, 2012

Fantino took $5,900 helicopter “demonstration” flight between Ottawa and Petawawa


Remember all the hot fuss last year about Defence Minister Peter MacKay taking a Canadian
Forces search-and-rescue helicopter back from a fishing holiday in Atlantic Canada the
Maritimes?

At the height of the fury, the Liberal research bureau tabled an order paper question for all
ministerial flights aboard all government aircraft — including helicopters, not just the
Challenger jet flight logs to which we’ve grown accustomed to lavishing with taxpayer outrage.

The response from the Department of National Defence, tabled Friday and posted below, reveals
that MacKay took other helio flights around the same time. All on government business, of
course.

But the first item on the list is also interesting: July 17, 2011, and new associate defence
minister Julian Fantino travelled aboard a Griffon helicopter between Ottawa and the Canadian
Forces Base in Petawawa, Ontario.

It is unclear from the information provided upon which of the there and back legs Fantino flew.
Three weeks earlier, Fantino was in Khandahar to celebrate Canada Day with the troops, so it’s
possible this was the final flight of his trip home.

Depending on traffic, that’s usually a two-hour drive up Highway 17. By helicopter, I’d put it
at an hour each way 20 minutes.
The cost of the short ride is pegged at $5,913.60.

Fantino’s office says he was participating in a “demonstration of military capabilities” at the
invitation of the Forces.

“The Minister was joined by the Chief of the Army Staff for demonstrations related to
capabilities at CFB Petawawa and of 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron. This included the
CH-146 Griffon based at CFB Petawawa,” his director of communications, Chris McCluskey, said in
an email. ” The Minister spoke with the pilots who explained the aircraft’s function and what
their needs are.”
McCluskey said Fantino made a round-trip flight between Ottawa and Petawawa.


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"We CAN look after each other better than we do today.
We CAN have a fiscally responsible government.
We CAN have a strong economy; greater equality; a clean environment.
We CAN be a force for peace in the world." - Jack Layton