You will never hear a word of criticism from Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue volunteers against the federal government that grudgingly pays to gas their boats.
Collectively and individually, they have remained absolutely professional and kept their mouths shut as the cost-cutting Conservatives moved to close the Kitsilano Canadian Coast Guard rescue station last year.
Yet they expect their call-outs could double. One senses that they look forward to the challenge and we are sure that they will perform ably.
The fact remains that the volunteer nature of the organization means that the launching of their rescue boats is not instantaneous. On-call crew members have to leave their jobs and muster at their lifeboats first.
The Tories appear to believe that moving the Howe Sound crew to the Lynnwood marina and adding a rigid-hulled Zodiac staffed by a coxswain and student volunteers at Discovery Point will make up for the Kits closure.
We're not so sure. The additional boat at Discovery Point will still have to circumnavigate Stanley Park to respond to English Bay distress calls and it won't be operational in winter months - a time when the coast guard estimated it responded to between 50 and 65 life-at-risk calls.
So, that leaves anyone in the water at the time it is coldest waiting to see whether they will be rescued by on-call North Shore volunteers or the Sea Island Canadian Coast Guard some 30 minutes away.
That's a life and death gamble for the sake of $700,000 a year.
