Parks Canada cuts avalanche search dogs, and volunteer handlers say nobody asked them
Kyle Hale of the Canadian Avalanche Rescue Dog Association says the cut also ends the training and certification help Parks Canada handlers gave civilian volunteers.
Parks Canada's decision to end its avalanche and search dog program has volunteer rescue handlers wondering who will do the work, according to Kyle Hale, president of the Canadian Avalanche Rescue Dog Association. Hale spoke with Ezra Levant from Golden, B.C., on Wednesday's episode of The Ezra Levant Show.
Ezra described the cut as a case of "firemen first," the old budgeting trick of cutting the most necessary service so the backlash forces the government to back down. He said Parks Canada was told to find $145 million in savings over three years and chose to cut the people who go out after an avalanche to save skiers and hikers.
Hale said it is not his association's program being cut. Parks Canada is cutting its warden service, which includes the search and rescue dogs, while his group is a network of volunteer civilian handlers across Alberta and B.C. "It sounds like it's us volunteers, but nobody asked us," he said.
B.C. has a volunteer search and rescue system with agreements that cover volunteers for injuries, lawsuits and costs such as truck fuel, Hale said. Parks Canada has nothing like that for his members.
Dogs find people by scent, he said, and one dog and handler can cover a large area where rescuers would otherwise probe the snow by hand, which is slow and exposes more rescuers to risk. The dogs also find missing people such as lost children or elderly walkers with dementia, work the park program covered too. Hale, who has spent 30 years in winter mountain rescue, said he has helped rescue hundreds of people, not all of them from avalanches.
The Parks Canada handlers have also served as instructors for the civilian program for about 30 years, he said, giving volunteers certification and help with standard operating procedures. Hale called the program a "center of excellence" and said that support is now gone. He said he knows of no consultation with stakeholders. CTV News Calgary reported that Parks Canada is ending its 55-year dog program in Banff National Park as it cuts about 500 positions nationwide.
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