Ground search and rescue is a police responsibility.
Police forces in Newfoundland and Labrador report to the provincial justice minister.
According to the Fire and Emergency Services website:
Emergency Air Services Program
Fire and Emergency Services – NL is called upon to assist the police forces (Royal Newfoundland Constabulary & Royal Canadian Mounted Police) in search and rescue activities. This assistance is usually in the form of air services support for lost and missing persons. The program is also utilized by FES-NL during emergency response activities.
So:
- How come no media outlet has asked provincial officials for an account of how they conducted the search for Burton Winters?
- How come CBC has interviewed both the Premier and the minister responsible for FES and asked neither of them to explain how provincial officials conducted the search?
- How come neither of them has volunteered to correct the fairly obvious public misunderstanding about roles and responsibilities in this case?
- Did Kathy Dunderdale and or Kevin O’Brien receive regular update reports from the police and FES on the search?
- If they did, how many did they get and when did they get them?
- How will the provincial government change its protocols for ground search and rescue? Will the provincial government provide additional resources to for GSAR, such as pay and training for search and rescue teams across the province and the creation of a provincial GSAR agency to co-ordinate their emergency response?
- srbp -