B.C. government wants to rescue search societies
B.C.'s new solicitor general, Kash Heed, said he will work to find a solution for search and rescue (SAR) societies needing third-party liability insurance.
His remarks came in response to the news volunteer SAR societies in the East Kootenay region suspended services after checking liability insurance policies. Most SAR societies in B.C. are volunteer groups.
"I've reached out to the chair of the Search and Rescue Association of British Columbia. We are going to be meeting in the next couple of weeks and we're going to problem-solve around this issue and hopefully reach a resolution," Heed said Tuesday after a cabinet meeting in Victoria.
The suspension was linked to a lawsuit filed last month by Gilles Blackburn against the Golden and District Search and Rescue Association following the death of his wife, Marie-Josée Fortin.
Blackburn and Fortin were backcountry skiing near Golden, B.C. in February when they got lost. Fortin died of hypothermia after seven days in the mountains, and it wasn't until two days after that Blackburn was found by the Golden search team.
According to officials with the Provincial Emergency Program, some SAR teams suspended or changed operations over the weekend, but Heed told reporters it was his understanding that most search and rescue teams in B.C. are still operating.
SAR leaders in the province say they have been warning the B.C. government for years of the need for better liability insurance.
Kyle Hale, a member of Golden Search and Rescue, said volunteers routinely risk their lives to save others — yet may still be sued for doing it.
After checking when the lawsuit was filed, it turns out Golden has proper insurance coverage — but has withdrawn its services because so many others in the province don't, according to Hale.
"The province has a moral obligation to ensure all volunteers who respond on tasks have comprehensive [insurance] protection and currently most SAR teams don't have that," Hale said.
Don Blakely, a lawyer and search and rescue official in Golden, says the province was told about the "liability gap" 12 years ago and did nothing.
"British Columbia has portrayed itself as a national leader in search and rescue and yet it is providing substandard and inadequate liability for its search and rescue community," said Blakely.