SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Jack Kruger has an idea about how to upgrade search and rescue resources in the North - station a Canadian Forces' Cormorant helicopter here.

A Cormorant helicopter takes part in a search and rescue exercise in Gatineau, Que., in 2005. - photo courtesy of Master Corporal Daren Kraus Department of National Defence

"I would very much like to see an all-weather helicopter similar to a Cormorant up here that can fly as fast as most fixed-wing aircraft, has the range to go from Yellowknife to Paulatuk, can swoop down on an ice pan in the middle of winter and pluck somebody from it, or do a very slow, methodical search along a river," said Kruger, the Hay River-based search and rescue co-ordinator for the RCMP's "G" Division. "So you've got everything in one aircraft that has the ability to be anywhere in the Territories."

Currently, there are no Canadian military aircraft - either fixed wing or a helicopter - in the North specifically dedicated to search and rescue (SAR).

"We should have a dedicated air search platform up here, even if it's only one," Kruger said. "And having talked to the military and having done this search and rescue for a number of years, it would be the agreed consensus that an aircraft such as the Cormorant helicopter that has the speed, the all-weather capability, the ability not only to search but to rescue would be the ultimate in a SAR resource for the Northwest Territories."

Kruger has expressed his idea to the military and RCMP management.

"It's agreeable, but it's not here," he said.

Search and rescue capabilities in the North were mentioned in two recent federal reports, but without many specifics. A report titled Canada's Arctic Sovereignty was released by the House of Commons' Standing Committee on National Defence in June.

It stated "Given the future increase in traffic and activity that we can expect to take place in the Arctic, it is imperative that we have appropriate search and rescue (SAR) capabilities."

A Senate report in December said the ability to provide SAR services is an important way for Canada to demonstrate its commitment to sovereignty in the North. Kruger often charters private aircraft to help in SAR operations.

"It works very well, but the problem is we cannot always get these aircraft," he said. "They're not always available."

Those chartered aircraft can come from such companies as Landa Aviation, Air Tindi, North-Wright Airways, Sahtu Helicopters and Great Slave Helicopters.

"I use any aircraft I can get my hands on to suit a specific need," Kruger said.

In addition, he frequently calls on the RCMP's police plane to help in searches, but it's a little too fast for ground searching. Then, there are Twin Otters owned by National Defence and stationed with Joint Task Force North's 440 Squadron in Yellowknife. Those aircraft are not specifically tasked for SAR, but Kruger noted they often help.

"We use them fairly frequently actually," he said. Finally, there are military aircraft, such as the Hercules, that fly up from the south.

"We use them as a search gets protracted or it's going into its second or third day," Kruger said, noting co-operation from the military is fantastic.

If an aircraft goes down or goes missing, that search automatically becomes the responsibility of the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre of the Department of National Defence in Trenton, Ont.

Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington said, if done correctly, it would be worthwhile to move SAR military aircraft to the North. However, he said it would be very difficult to simply put a search and rescue unit somewhere in the three northern territories and say that's it.

"Any on-alert search and rescue operation by the armed forces would probably require three aircraft or maybe even four," Bevington said. "There would be one ready to go, one ready to replace the one that's ready to go and then one in maintenance."

The MP said that would mean about 100 military personnel. "It's a pretty significant commitment, but it would be a commitment that would be good for the North and certainly the planes, if they were located in the North, could possibly be used for other duties," he said.

Bevington said those other duties could include moving military personnel around the North and working with the Canadian Rangers. The MP said the House of Commons committee indicated it wants SAR capabilities to be addressed.

"That subject needs some more examination," he said. "That's what I would hope would move ahead now." One of the questions needing answers is where Northern SAR resources would be located.

"You have to make some very considered decisions there," Bevington said. "There is not going to a search and rescue standby capacity in all three territories."

Senator Bill Rompkey of Newfoundland and Labrador was the chair of the Senate committee that produced last year's report. While it focused on the role of the Canadian Coast Guard in the Arctic, the report also touched on search and rescue.

"It needs to be improved," said Rompkey, a former MP for Labrador. "The simple line is that we need to move services north. We came to the conclusion that you can't serve the Arctic from Ontario. It just doesn't make a great deal of sense."

The senator said the Arctic is the only one of Canada's three coasts which doesn't have SAR administration and dedicated resources. Instead, he noted the administration is from Trenton, Ont.

Rompkey doesn't think Northern SAR resources can be located at one place.

"Somebody would have to do a study to determine which is the most effective point or points to have the administration and the equipment in the Arctic," he said. "You'd have to figure out where have the incidents taken place in the past, say, 10 years. Where have they happened? Where are they likely to happen? You need to do a pretty sound survey of this, which nobody has done to my knowledge."

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.