{"id":7034,"date":"2012-12-21T17:00:31","date_gmt":"2012-12-21T22:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/?p=7034"},"modified":"2012-12-21T17:08:04","modified_gmt":"2012-12-21T22:08:04","slug":"snowboarders-rescue-sparks-billing-debate-in-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/inbox\/2012\/12\/21\/snowboarders-rescue-sparks-billing-debate-in-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"Snowboarder’s rescue sparks billing debate in Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Snowboarding in the backcountry. Photo: Ham Hock<\/a>, CC some rights reserved<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

It’s not a new question: If people take unnecessary risks in the wilderness, should they be billed to recover costs of search and rescue efforts?<\/p>\n

The discussion came up in Canada recently after a 33-year-old snowboarder got lost for over two days at a resort in British Columbia. (Though now living in B.C. S\u00e9bastien Boucher\u00a0is originally from Gatineau, which made this a story with local connections in Ottawa.)<\/p>\n

It ended well<\/a> – Boucher was found, exhausted and cold, but otherwise uninjured. But Cypress Mountain Resort says they will send a bill for $10,000 – to partially cover expenses and lost revenue. (The resort states it diverted employees and shut down a ski run to conduct the search.) If the proposed bill recovers money from Boucher, Cypress Mountain says that will be donated to the rescue organization.<\/p>\n

The specifics in this individual story have an element of “he said, she said”. It has been\u00a0alleged\u00a0that Boucher intentionally ignored signs and safety barriers to go his own way – into danger, as it turned out. Boucher and his friends say no, he was distracted<\/a> after learning about the sudden death of a close friend<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The rescue was complicated by Boucher’s decision to keep moving and not sleep. While that may have kept him alive, it made searcher’s work more difficult<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It’s worth noting the area’s rescue service is not<\/em> planning to bill Boucher. It fact they say it’s a bad idea, according to this report<\/a> by CTV\u00a0British Columbia:<\/p>\n

North Shore Rescue team leader Tim Jones said he advises members not to get tangled up in debates about forcing people to pay for their rescues, but noted that fines can actually do more harm than good.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t be put in a position that we\u2019re chasing people because they don\u2019t want to get caught, or get found,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people who get lost or injured it\u2019s because they make a mistake or something happens that\u2019s out of their control,\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Having said that, Jones was not impressed by Boucher’s behavior:<\/p>\n

“…he intentionally went out of bounds. No bones about it. He\u2019ll probably do it again.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Taking a look at\u00a0“Who should pay for rescuing wayward adventures?”<\/a> CBC found opposition to billing for rescue, as articulated by\u00a0Dwight Yochim, with\u00a0Coquitlam Search and Rescue<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat concerns us is the media and the public look at it as though the person has done a bad thing and should be charged for it. That causes us no end of grief,\u201d Yochim said by phone.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople who hear about the threat of getting charged \u2014 we\u2019re afraid that if something like that comes in it may cause family and friends to launch a search, which could be fatal,\u201d because of the dangers involved, he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, there are good arguments for and against fines.<\/p>\n

How do you see this?<\/p>\n

Is it worth looking at motive to sort out who gets lost through mishap, verses those who (some say) “were asking for it”?<\/p>\n

If you go that route, though, then the question of competence also arises. Should people who are too\u00a0ignorant\u00a0to safety engage in wilderness activities be fined if they get into trouble? (Of course, the ignorant are often unlikely to know what they don’t know!)<\/p>\n

It does seem to come down to behaving responsibility and using common sense, though goodness knows both of those qualities can be in short supply.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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