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The Canadian Coast Guard or CCG (Fr. Garde côtière canadienne or GCC) is the coast guard of Canada, and is the federal agency responsible for marine search and rescue (SAR), aids to navigation (NAVAIDs), marine pollution response, and icebreaking.
Canadian Coast Guard Crest
Non-military
Unlike the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), CCG is a civilian organisation. None of CCG's personnel is a peace officer. Enforcing and protecting Canada's maritime sovereignty is a military task and the complete responsibility of the Canadian Navy. The enforcement of laws in Canada's territorial sea (any ocean waters in Canada are federal jurisdiction) is the responsibility of Canada's federal police force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Saltwater fisheries enforcement is a specific responsibility of fisheries officers. Note that the Great Lakes are not coastal waters and are therefore not part of the territorial sea - thus certain laws on the Canadian side of the International Boundary in the Great Lakes may be enforced by the Ontario Provincial Police or municipal police forces, although enforcing any federal laws in these waters are still the ultimate responsibility of the RCMP.
DFO integration problems
Until 1995, CCG was administratively the responsibility of the Department of Transport; this was changed with some controversy to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, however after a decade the federal government is reexamining this decision.
The reason for placing CCG under the fisheries department was to achieve cost savings by amalgamating the two largest fleets of the federal government's civilian vessels under a single department. Arising out of this arrangement, CCG became ultimately responsible for crewing, operating, and maintaining a larger fleet - both the original CCG fleet before 1995 of dedicated SAR vessels, NAVAID tenders, and multi-purpose icebreakers along with the fisheries department's collection of scientific research and fisheries enforcement vessels, all without any increase in budget. Different management practises and differences in organizational culture (fisheries is dedicated to conservation and protection of fish through enforcement whereas CCG's primary raison d'etre is overall marine safety and SAR) have proven to be stumbling blocks.
CCG's beginnings
Originally a variety of federal departments and even the navy performed the work which CCG does today. Beginning in the late 1800s, the federal government increasingly began to place the duties of maintaining aids to navigation (primarily lighthouses at the time), marine safety, and search and rescue under the precursor to the Department of Transport, the Department of Railways and Canals. In the early 1900s the department changed its name to the Department of Transport although for a time during the 1920s, the Royal Canadian Navy performed some of this work at a time when the navy was wavering between becoming a civilian organization during the inter-war period, although the work returned to the Department of Transport by the early 1930s. In the late 1950s it was decided to consolidate the work being done in the Marine Service of the Department of Transport and on January 28, 1962 the Canadian Coast Guard was formed.
Throughout the 1960s-1980s dozens of new ships were built as part of a national shipbuilding policy, and in response to the expanding requirements of the Canadian marine industry for CCG's services. Many of the older vessels built in the 1960s and 1970s were paid off and sold during CCG cutbacks to its fleet in the 1990s following integration with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. In the 1990s-2000s, CCG expanded and modernized its SAR fleet by ordering British Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI)-designed ARUN-class high endurance lifeboat cutters for open coastal areas, and the USCG-designed 47-foot Cape-class (CCG designation) medium endurance lifeboat cutters for the Great Lakes and more sheltered coastal areas.
Canadian Coast Guard College
In the mid-1960s the former navy base at Sydney Harbour on Cape Breton Island (HMCS Point Edward) was reborn as the Canadian Coast Guard College which moved into an adjacent custom-built campus in the early 1980s. CCGC trains all navigation and engineering officers who serve on coast guard ships and cutters.
Vessel paint scheme
Today all CCG vessels are painted uniformly regardless of their use. They are characterized by a red hull and white superstructure, designed to look like a "floating Canadian flag". The hull bears a 75-degree white stripe, similar to the markings on USCG vessels. Ship nameplates are typically affixed to the superstructure and vessels are typically named for persons or places of historic (or geographic) significance. From the 1960s-1990s, CCG did experiment with painting primary SAR vessels in a colour scheme with a yellow superstructure and red hull, meant to distinguish them from navaid tenders and icebreakers, and also to improve their visibility on the open ocean with a breaking waves environment. Today the only distinguishing markings for primary SAR vessels is the large RESCUE-SAUVETAGE lettering on the superstructure.
CCG aircraft
In addition to various bases located in deep water ports, rescue stations in smaller minor ports, and its fleet of vessels, CCG also operates a small number of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. The former are primarily used for icebreaking surveillance in winter and servicing aids to navigation in summer while the latter are used primarily in pollution surveillance patrols. As with any government vessels or aircraft, CCG aircraft may be called upon at any time to assist the Canadian Air Force The majority of CCG aircraft are stationed at municipal airports located near major bases.
Coast Guard Auxiliary
The Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary (CCGA), formerly the Canadian Marine Rescue Auxiliary (CMRA), is a nonprofit organization of volunteer recreational boaters and fishermen who assist CCG with search and rescue as well as boating safety education. CCGA members who assist in SAR operations have their vessel insurance and fuel costs covered by CCG.
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