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BC  

SAR funding shortages

This weeks provincial budget has left search and rescue teams across the province searching to fill funding shortfalls.

The province announced a one-time $5-million  funding investment from the NDP government in 2017, but that will run out on March 31 of this year, CTV News reports

Things like equipment and facilities maintenance as well as training and certification of volunteers depend on provincial funding, according to Mike Danks of North Shore Search and Rescue.

"To hear that the government is not interested in being there to support us is…frustrating," said Danks.

"Right now, all of the teams in the province are facing a challenge," he said.

Danks is worried that fundraising will cause stress on the volunteers belonging to 80 SAR organizations in British Columbia.

"Every single one of those members were sitting down at home having a nice meal with their families, and all of a sudden, we get a call from someone that has been hit by an avalanche," he said. "They walk away from their children and put their lives at risk."

-With files from CTV Vancouver



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