Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, this weekend, residents of my constituency, friends and relatives from all across the territories have become increasingly alarmed about 10 hunters from Iqaluit who were apparently returning from a walrus hunt last week at the end of Frobisher Bay. They sent an urgent distress call from their 12-metre longliner, about 100 miles from Iqaluit. The call was received by a nearby outpost camp at Tongait, about 11:00 pm last Saturday night. The call came in the midst of very strong winds, snow and rain. The hunters reported that their vessel was without power, drifting and taking in water.
Because of the difficulty transmitting radio messages this time of year, the news of the distress call could not be relayed to Iqaluit from the outpost camp until early Sunday morning. As soon as the message was received, a massive search effort began. Thanks to the presence of Canadian Armed Forces aircraft in Iqaluit for a military exercise, the rescue coordination centre in Halifax was able to mount a very thorough air search as soon as the news was received. An armed forces Aurora aircraft with the best air-to-surface radio was searching continuously all night, until relieved by another search aircraft early this morning. A Hercules and two twin otter aircraft have also been involved.
About 1:00 this morning, a large local vessel with 10 local men aboard left to assist with the search in the area, and very early this morning a fast Department of Fisheries and Oceans patrol vessel left to support on the water.
The latest news is that wreckage believed to be from a vessel has been seen from the air in the area where the boat is believed to have gone missing; about five miles south of Gabriel Island, and in the vicinity of Chase Island. The vessels at sea are now moving to that place and the air search will concentrate on the coast and islands in that area.
I'm grateful to have been kept fully informed by the Honourable Rebecca Mike and her officials in emergency measures. At this moment, the search goes on. We can only hope that the hunters have managed to somehow make it ashore, however, the situation is grave. All we can do now is pray for a miracle. Thank you.