Father of Deceased Fisherman Attacks Search and Rescue Efforts

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Father of one of the five fishermen, who are assumed to have passed away, voyaging in the boat that capsized in stormy seas off Nova Scotia has recently alleged that Canadian Coast Guard should have never left the vessel at least until it was stabilized.

George Hopkins gave a statement on Friday asserting that official search and rescue crews needlessly lost track of the Miss Ally, which is believed to have capsized sometime on Sunday. Hopkins, father of 27-year-old Joel, complained that even though the coast guard were not able to search within the 13.5-metre fishing boat, they could have at least kept track of it. He mentioned that “they should have stayed there,” and “that was a big mistake, right there. You don’t leave it, you leave someone by it.”

Whereas, on the other hand, the spokesperson for the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax, Maj. Martell Thompson, explained that the navy and coast guards only returned after the search was called off on Tuesday at 6 p.m., pointing out that “we don’t do recovery, we do search and rescue.” Thompson further explained that RCMP was in charge at moment when the search was ended, while also claiming that “the JRCC, search and rescue, we focus on saving lives, not assets.” On a different note, the Defence Minister Peter MacKay has promised during a conference call on Friday that there will be review of the Canadian Forces response to the incident. He alleged that “I know, having grown up in Atlantic Canada, that these tragedies are devastating for the families and for the entire community.”