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AWARDS

CCGA Awards

The Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary presented awards to the following members at their 8th Annual General Meeting and Awards Banquet held on Saturday, October 14, 2006.

Certificate of Appreciation

Marcel O'Brien and Alma O'Brien of L'anse au Loup, Labrador received certificates of appreciation for their outstanding work in arranging the 7th Annual Search and Rescue Competition in L'anse au Loup, Labrador in October 2005.

Honorary Membership

Brian Bishop of St. John's, President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Civil Air Search and Rescue Association, was presented with a honorary membership for his unwavering support of Coast Guard Auxiliary activities in Newfoundland and Labrador.

GG Awards for Bravery

Governor-General Recognizes Brave Canadians

At a Rideau Hall ceremony in October 2006, 43 Canadians were recognized for bravery and awarded the Governor-General's Honours.

Search and Rescue Technicians Sgt. J.C. Steeve Bédard of Jonquière Québec received a Star of Courage and his colleague MCpl Daniel Villeneuve of Aylesford, Nova Scotia earned a Medal of Bravery for their 2005 rescue of five stranded seal hunters. The daring rescue amid high seas and winds of 50 knots took several hoists to reach the hunters who clung to their disabled vessel in the ocean near les Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Québec. With winds pitching ice into the air, the hoists were treacherous. The successful rescue earned Sgt. Bédard his second Decoration for Bravery.

Constable Stephen Knight of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary earned his second Medal of Bravery for his rescue of a despondent teenaged girl. Responding to the news that a girl had jumped into the frigid Waterford River in St. John's in February, 2004, Cst. Knight climbed down an icy hill to jump in the river and free the girl from the pool in which she was trapped. Battling a fierce current, Cst Knight was able to bring the girl to shore where emergency crews were waiting.

First Officer Leslie Arthur Palmer, C.V., Prince Rupert, British Columbia was awarded the Cross of Valour for his role in the rescue of two fishermen during a brutal winter storm in December, 2004. Aboard Coast Guard vessel Point Henry the crew spotted illumination flares set off by the vessel: the two survivors flashed a light in response to show their location. First Officer Palmer got ashore using a small rubber boat but, hindered by waves and wind, had to land half a kilometre from the survivors. He walked for an hour in hip-deep snow, struggling against sheer ice footing on a rocky shore, until he reached the two men huddled inside a life raft. Palmer worked courageously to keep the two fishermen warm and alive as they waited on the beach for another four hours before medical help could reach them. By that time, they had lost all radio contact and had only a flashlight to use as a signal.