Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
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C COAST GUARD ken Hansen is a Resident Research Fellow with the Centre for Foreign Policy Studies at Dalhousie University and a member of the Science Advisory Committee for the Halifax Marine Research Institute. COaST gUaRD REFORM What is the best approach? T he history of the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) is complex and convoluted. While their spiritual origins stem from the ancient concern of all mariners for the safety of life at sea, their organizational lineage can be traced back to the Department of Marine and Fisheries (DMF). The DMF was created in 1868 and was, at that time, the largest department of government. Both the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and the CCG developed from this common root, with the navy established directly from it in 1910 and the coast guard from a variety of derivative organizations in 1962. The navy's place within the Department of National Defence (DND) means that its military mandate and role is clear. The same cannot be said for the coast guard. Originally part of the Department of Transport (DOT), the CCG was transferred to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in 1995. The fisheries fleet, personnel and functions were absorbed into the coast guard in the name of "increased efficiency." In 2005, the CCG was declared a "special operating agency" of the DOT. The end result has been numerous changes in an institutional history that has just passed the 50-year milestone. There are many critics of the CCG's mandate, role and capabilities. Given its developmental history, this is hardly surprising. Senator Colin Kenny is the most vocal commentator on the 20 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2013 www.vanguardcanada.com CCG. He argues that the CCG should become an armed service with a marine law enforcement mandate. In fact, the fisheries portion of the coast guard does have the authority to use arms and their officers do have a law enforcement mandate, but only in specific circumstances. Understanding the origins and limitations of this function is central to deciding how CCG should be changed. In Canada, our coast guard is a civil organization; one that has unions and collective bargaining agreements that govern the nature of employment and the risks to be accepted by their people in the course of duty. In this regard, the Canadian version stands practically alone. Mathew Gillis conducted a global survey for a research project entitled The Global Navy/Coast Guard Relationship: A Mandate-based Typology (Centre for Foreign Policy Studies, 2010). He found that of the 150 countries in the world with a coastline, 72 possess a coast guard of some type. Only those of