The Honourable Gail Shea, Acting Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, welcomes back the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Sir Wilfrid Laurier and its 32 crew members. The ship is returning from nearly four months in the Arctic.
The CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier left its home port in Victoria in early July, on a mission that included assisting the supply of western Arctic communities with fuel and goods. The return trip took the ship through the waters of the Northwest Territories, the Yukon Territory and the Alaska panhandle.
The CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier and her crew were also key contributors to the two-week search for HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, the lost ships of the 1845 expedition led by Sir John Franklin in the quest for the Northwest Passage. The vessel and crew conducted a variety of work outside of the two-week project, including icebreaking and navigational aids support for commercial shipping.
“I would like to commend the crew of the CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier for their dedication in this groundbreaking expedition in Canada’s North,” said Minister Shea . “I am proud to be a part of a government that continues to make strategic investments in the Canadian Coast Guard, including a new polar class ice-breaker.”
As part of the Harper Government’s unprecedented investments in the Canadian Coast Guard over the past six years, the new polar icebreaker will be the flagship of Coast Guard’s fleet and will possess greater icebreaking capability than any other ship currently in the Canadian fleet. The CCGS John G. Diefenbaker will support the work of several departments and agencies, deliver the full range of Coast Guard programs, and support Canada’s presence in the Arctic. The vessel will be able to operate in three seasons in more difficult ice conditions than currently possible.
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Canadian Coast Guard, October 22, 2012