Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (July 24/02) - When the Avataq sank, the deaths of the men on board pushed a number of changes in safety and search and rescue protocols in Nunavut.

Since the accident, Transport Canada has moved its Manitoba and Nunavut office from Ottawa to Winnipeg. It has hired four new surveyors, and regional director Peter Timonin says they spend twice as much time in Nunavut as before -- between three and four weeks a year, he said.

The surveyors come north only when called upon to do an inspection.

"That is the normal mode of operation," says Timonin. "Our surveyors are instructed to keep their eyes open when they are on the road for safety concerns and take appropriate actions."

Transport Canada has also bumped up its requirements in several areas. For example, all vessels under 25 metres in length that have life rafts must make sure those rafts can float freely. Transport Canada has instructed the port warden in Churchill, Man., to be alert to possible safety violations.

Shortly after the Avataq sank, another boat, the Quinaluguaq, was detained in Churchill for not meeting the proper requirements. Since then, no boats have made the cargo trip, said Transport Canada.

Nunavut Emergency Management still does not have printed copies of its emergency response measures, although a request for proposals has been issued for the publication of a procedures manual.

That is expected to be complete by the end of this fiscal year. Officials at NEM said it is standard protocol to notify the Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Trenton immediately after receiving a distress call.

Since the accident, a number of Auxiliary Coast Guard units have been set up in various communities. Environment Canada is working to install weather information radio stations in Cambridge Bay and Cape Dorset. It is also working to provide weather information in Inuktitut.

Communities across Nunavut have been hit with an information blitz about marine safety. More information material has been translated into Inuktitut, and a safety instructor travels to the different communities to conduct safety awareness programs.