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Tiffany Ayalik, left, Tanya Silke, Suzanne McAstocker, Kaley Mackay, and Summer Silke from Lifeguards for Lodune, pose with safety equipment on Long Lake Beach last summer. Industry, Tourism and Investment Minister David Ramsay said the government will be issuing a request for proposals to have lifeguards stationed at the beach this summer. - NNSL file photo

'There will be eyes and ears on that beach'
Government to issue tender for Long Lake supervision

Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Friday, March 21, 2014

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The minister responsible for parks is making good on his pledge to have supervision at Long Lake Beach this summer. It remains to be seen, however, what sort of supervision that will be.

David Ramsay, minister for the Department of Industry, Tourism, and Investment, called Yellowknifer on Wednesday to dispel suggestions that the beach at Fred Henne Territorial Park will go yet another summer without a lifeguard despite the drowning death of seven-year-old Lodune Shelley last June.

He said whether they be actual lifeguards or "waterfront attendants" with first-aid training, the beach will be supervised.

"I've made a commitment that there will be some kind of supervision at that beach if it's going to make that beach safer and I fully intend on seeing that happen," said Ramsay.

The news comes as the Lifesaving Society of Alberta/NWT completes its second of two GNWT-commissioned reports about safety at the popular Yellowknife beach - with the most recent one focusing exclusively on whether having the beach supervised would make it safer.

The report, which has yet to be released, recommends three options for having the beach supervised, according to Ramsay. The first would have it fully staffed by lifeguards; the second would have lifeguards stationed at the beach on weekends and on holidays; the third would provide "waterfront attendants" who would not be fully qualified as lifeguards but would have first-aid training.

Each option has its own merits and drawbacks, Ramsay said. For example, if the beach were to be fully staffed by lifeguards, it would have to be closed to the public when there is no lifeguard on duty there. Moreover, national guidelines state that each lifeguard can supervise a maximum of 40 people at a time. As such, there would be strict limits on how many people could use the beach if lifeguards were posted there.

"You can have 700, 800 people there on a hot summer day," said Ramsay, who used to work as a parks officer at Fred Henne Territorial Park.

A source close to the government suggested to Yellowknifer earlier in the week that lifeguards would have to wait another year as the GNWT figures out how to regulate access to the beach to keep it from over-crowding.

Ramsay said he does not want to have to turn people away from the beach. However, he said rather than committing to which service to proceed with ahead of time, the government will be issuing a broad request for proposals for all three services at once.

"We're going to run through all the options and come up with the best scenario for that beach," said Ramsay.

"Whether lifeguards are hired) at the end of the day or if we go to some type of supervised service at that beach, there will be eyes and ears on that beach."

The news comes as welcome relief for Tanya Silke, who started the volunteer group Lifeguards for Lodune to patrol the beach at the end of last summer.

"Obviously, they've paid attention to what the public has asked for and that's really refreshing," said Silke, who was one 724 people to sign

a petition calling for lifeguards to be reinstated at Fred Henne after an 11-year absence. The petition was recently tabled in the legislative assembly.

Silke said she and the rest of Lifeguards for Lodune already had plans to patrol the beach again this summer. However, now that a request for proposals for waterfront attendants will be issued she is considering a proposal of her own to work in partnership with the GNWT.

"We will continue to provide our services whether we are paid or not," she said.

Ramsay added that it would cost the government as little as $70,000 a

year to provide waterfront attendants and as much as $230,000 to provide lifeguards at the beach, but emphasized that money would not be a factor in determining which service the government chooses.

"I've said this before, the money is not the issue," he said. "We just want to make sure the beach is as safe as possible and that people can enjoy it."

The GNWT will also be going ahead with plans to improve other security measures at the beach as per the Lifesaving Society's earlier report, including improved signage and providing more safety equipment.

It will also continue with a life-jacket loaner station, which was installed at the beach at the end of last summer.

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