George Affleck and Elizabeth Ball voted against mayor's 2012 motion to urge feds to keep Kits Coast Guard base open

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      The recent oil spill in English Bay has refocused attention on the federal government's closure of the Kitsilano Canadian Coast Guard base in 2013.

      Industry Minister James Moore and senior Coast Guard officials have claimed that shutting down this base would have had no impact on efforts to contain an oil spill from the M/V Marathassa in English Bay.

      However, a former Coast Guard captain at the base, Tony Toxopeus, contradicted these assertions in a recent interview with CBC News. Toxopeus maintained that staff from the base could have been in the area with pollution-control equipment within 15 minutes.

      The closure of the Canadian Coast Guard search and rescue station was opposed by all federal NDP and Liberal MPs in the Lower Mainland.

      However, when the issue came before Vancouver city council on May 29, 2012, two NPA councillors voted against Mayor Gregor Robertson's motion on the matter.

      Robertson's motion called upon the mayor to write to the federal government on behalf of the City of Vancouver to "urge" Ottawa to reverse its decision to close the base.

      At the time, NPA councillor George Affleck had a problem with the word "urge". He wanted the mayor to soften the language, so he moved an amendment.

      Instead of urging the federal government to keep the base open, Affleck proposed that the mayor "request the Federal Government consult with the City of Vancouver before closure occurs with a goal to keep the station open".

      Vision Vancouver politicians and Green councillor Adriane Carr voted down Affleck's amendment.

      Then when the mayor's original motion came before council to "urge" the feds to keep the Coast Guard base open, Affleck and NPA councillor Elizabeth Ball voted against it.

      When the base finally closed the following February, Robertson called it "a sad day for Vancouver".

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