Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary
- CCGA and CMRA redirect here. For other uses of "CMRA," please see CMRA (disambiguation).
The Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary or CCGA (French: Garde côtière auxiliaire canadienne or GCAC) is a Canada-wide volunteer marine association dedicated to marine search and rescue (SAR) and the promotion of boating safety, through association with the Canadian Coast Guard under the auspices of Canada's National Search and Rescue Program.
Contents |
[edit] Mandate
Members of the CCGA are usually recreational boaters and commercial fishermen who use their vessels to assist the Canadian Coast Guard with search and rescue (SAR) as well as boating safety education. CCGA members who assist in SAR operations have their vessel insurance covered by CCG, as well as any fuel and operating costs associated with a particular tasking.
The CCGA enables the CCG to provide maritime SAR coverage in many isolated areas of Canada's coastlines without having to maintain an active base and/or vessels in those areas. The auxiliary is dedicated to providing a permanent day and night search and rescue service to cover marine requirements in Canada and prevent the loss of life and injury.
- Save lives at risk
- Reduce the number and severity of SAR incidents
- Promote marine safety
- Support the Canadian Coast Guard
- Provide a humanitarian service
- Maintain the highest professional standards
- Promote dedication and pride of membership
[edit] History
Coastal lifesaving stations manned by volunteers pre-dates Canadian Confederation (1867). The country's first motorized lifeboat, also operated by volunteers, was put into service in Canada in 1907 at Bamfield, British Columbia.
Formal responsibility for organizing and overseeing search and rescue in Canada was given to the Minister of National Defence in 1951. This responsibility mostly fell to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) which, in coordination with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), organized rescue coordination centres (RCCs) across the country to manage RCAF SAR response activities for specific geographic areas.
Changes to the Canada Shipping Act in 1961 and the formation of the Canadian Coast Guard in 1962 saw the Minister of Transport, who had responsibility for the CCG from 1962-1995, be given responsibility for maritime search and rescue in support of the Minister of National Defence's mandate. As a result, the Minister of Transport designated "marine rescue controllers" who were CCG personnel that would work within the RCAF's rescue co-ordination centres. The RCCs were renamed joint rescue coordination centres (JRCCs) to denote the dual role of air and maritime search and rescue as well as their joint operation by RCAF and CCG.
CCG search and rescue officials first formally recognized volunteer rescuers in 1963. Volunteer "search masters" were individuals with access to seaworthy boats equipped with radios and volunteer "rescue agents" were individuals who served as local points of communication with CCG maritime rescue controllers operating in JRCCs. A special metal sign was provided to identify an individual who volunteered with maritime search and rescue. A distinctive pennant based on the design of the CCG jack was also issued: white hoist, blue fly, single red maple leaf with the letters S and R on either side of the leaf.
By the mid 1970s, it became clear that a formal organization for training volunteer search and rescuers was necessary in order to improve the CCG's response to maritime search and rescue incidents, particularly in remote locations. This was confirmed in a 1975 study commissioned by CCG and led to the Canadian Marine Rescue Auxiliary or CMRA being formed in late 1978 as a non-profit organization in an effort to enhance search and rescue coverage and capability, and to better coordinate volunteer efforts. The CMRA was renamed the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary or CCGA in 1997.
[edit] Current operations
Similar to its predecessor, the CMRA, the CCGA is a non-profit organization of volunteers who provide maritime search and rescue services for the federal government upon request from one of Canada's three Joint Rescue Coordination Centres (JRCCs).
CCGA units may respond on their own or may be asked to respond with regular CCG search and rescue vessels or Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft, as determined by the JRCC in charge of coordinating the response.
Some CCGA units on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts as well as the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River actually have dedicated rescue vessels such as rigid hull inflatable boats similar to the Zodiac Hurricane 733 or Titan 249 XL. These vessels are owned and equipped by non-profit organizations located in the communities where the vessels are home ported but are still crewed by volunteers. The organizations, their volunteers and their vessels are part of the CCGA. In some cases the coxswains of these vessels receive fast rescue craft (FRC) training from CCG; CCG Station Bamfield in British Columbia and CCG Station Sambro in Nova Scotia.
[edit] Uniforms
CCGA uniforms are based on Canadian Coast Guard uniforms with unique CCGA badges and insignia that are silver in colour (regular CCG crew have gold insignia).
[edit] See also
- Civil Air Search and Rescue Association (CASARA)
- Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax (JRCC Halifax)
- Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Trenton (JRCC Trenton)
- Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Victoria (JRCC Victoria)
