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As part of those consultations, the government released a 36-page document asking for feedback on what the military should — and should not — be doing. One section focuses specifically on the military’s role in search and rescue, and asks if there are “models for alternative service delivery that could be explored.”

The Canadian Armed Forces responds to more than 9,000 distress calls each year, the document says. But only about 1,000 actually require military search-and-rescue helicopters or airplanes. The rest involve co-ordinating other government departments, volunteers and private companies hired to help.

“The CAF take their role in search and rescue very seriously and remain focused on continuous improvement,” the document reads.

“Yet given the range of other actors engaged in this activity and the small proportion of rescues that require CAF assets, a valid question is: What role should the CAF have in search and rescue?”

This isn’t the first time a government has considered taking search and rescue away from the military. The Conservatives raised the possibility of privatizing search-and-rescue operations in a meeting with representatives from various aerospace firms in 2011. The idea didn’t get far, however, after a public outcry.

Among those who spoke out against the proposal was Liberal MP Judy Foote, who wrote in a blog post at the time that she was “appalled by the government’s notice to companies that the government would be exploring the privatization of search-and-rescue operations.”