Kirsten Murphy
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (July 18/01) - A three-year, $645,000 agreement between the territorial and the federal governments will help Rankin Inlet create its first Coast Guard auxiliary unit.

The recently signed partnership between the Department of Community Government and Transportation and the Canadian Coast Guard means subsidized insurance is available for boaters in 15 Nunavut communities. Vessels will be used on an on-call basis.

Talks are under way to start an auxiliary in Rankin Inlet -- and other communities -- said Eric Doig, manager for Nunavut Emergency Management.

Rankin Inlet councillor David Ningeongan said 20 people attended an information meeting last week.

Ningeongan belongs to the seven-person volunteer search and rescue team.

"Often times boats are not fully prepared when they're called to marine search and rescues. With the auxiliary in effect you'll be given the equipment. It's very good, very important," he said.

Doig returns to Rankin Inlet in August to select and train the new recruits. He called the partnerships historical.

"In the past we would reimburse boat owners for their gas and that was it. If somebody banged their boat during a rescue, we didn't have special insurance policies to cover them. Now we can offer boat owners insurance and a reimbursement package," Doig said.

More money may mean more interest in boating safety -- a critical development given Nunavut's short but busy boating season.

Iqaluit became the first community with a Coast Guard auxiliary last year.

The unit now qualifies for funding, which is good news for Alden Williams, co-owner of one of the unit's two-boat fleet.

"It's all about public safety. You have a short time to save lives, whether a person has capsized or they can't respond because a radio is damaged or they don't have a radio," Williams said.

He said auxiliary support provides reactive and proactive marine safety.

"We have the ability to do courtesy boat checks and make sure people have the proper flotation, bail buckets, paddle, flares. We're making people aware of boat safety," Doig said.

When a person goes missing -- either on land or on the water -- Nunavut Emergency Services is called.

Last year Doig's office fielded 44 marine SAR calls. Auxiliary teams, once established, will help Doig and other emergency specialists respond to marine crises.

When the money dries up in 2004, the Central and Arctic branches of the Canadian Coast Guard take over the auxiliaries' operational costs.

New auxiliary recruits are welcome.

"We want people who are good on the water, good on the land because they're out there when the conditions are cranky," Doig said.

Doig will spend the rest of July meeting with hamlet officials to determine who is interested.

An operations officer, expected to start work later this month, takes over co-ordinating the program. Most auxiliaries won't be officially operational until next year.

Establishing the auxiliary units coincides with the introduction of Inuktitut dispatchers stationed in Iqaluit last month.

Doig said the goal is to promote boating safety and, if necessary, save lives.

"Out in the water you just don't have a second chance. When you're boat is floundering and you need assistance then that's what the auxiliary is for," he said.

A hefty marine safety training manual -- one taking more than a year to compile with input from emergency experts around the North -- is headed for the printer. The manual will be produced in English and Inuktitut.