National Inuit Leader Calls for Arctic Search and Rescue Following Boy’s Death

February 14, 2012 – Ottawa, Ontario – National Inuit Leader Mary Simon, President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), renewed calls for a reliable system of search and rescue (SAR) in the Canadian Arctic following the tragic death of 14-year-old Burton Winters off the coast of Labrador earlier this month.

“My heart goes out to Burton’s family and to the hundreds of Burton’s friends and neighbours who have gathered in communities throughout the Nunatsiavut region to draw attention to this entirely preventable tragedy,” said Simon.

Simon and the Board of Directors of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the national organization representing Inuit in Canada, voted unanimously last fall for improved Arctic search and rescue capabilities, calling on the Government of Canada to develop a strategic plan for emergency and disaster preparation in some of this country’s most remote areas.

“I welcome National Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s commitment yesterday to look at improving the search and rescue protocol that delayed SAR assistance in this instance, and I urge him to work with Inuit as he conducts his investigation,” said Simon.

Winters was found dead outside his home community of Makkovik, Labrador, on February 1, two days after the community requested SAR support. Bad weather prevented Canadian Forces aircraft from joining the search. Under current protocol, the onus fell on the community to call the military a second time to say that assistance was still needed. 

A September 2011 resolution by the board of ITK responded to a plane crash in Resolute Bay, Nunavut, last summer that killed 12 people. By sheer coincidence, military helicopters were in the community for Operation Nanook, a Canadian Forces exercise, and military support played an important role in the survival of three passengers.

“The realities of life in Inuit Nunangat [the Inuit homeland of Nunavut, Nunatsiavut (Northern Labrador), Nunavik (Northern Quebec) and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of the Northwest Territories] and adjacent parts of Canada present real dangers in relation to a wide range of transportation and land use activities and to community life,” the resolution reads.

“Search and rescue services and emergency and disaster prevention and planning are an essential dimension of sovereignty, and a core public responsibility in Arctic governance.”

For more information:

Patricia D’Souza
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
613-292-4482; dsouza@itk.ca