B.C. government to insure search and rescue teams

British Columbia has agreed to cover indefinitely the cost of liability insurance for search-and-rescue groups, according to the British Columbia Search and Rescue Association (BCSRA).
The government has committed $180,000 in 2010 to ensure search-and-rescue teams in the province have liability coverage, a BCRSA release says.
The issue of insurance arose in 2009 after the search-and-rescue society in Golden, B.C. was hit with a lawsuit by a Quebec man whose wife froze to death after the pair went skiing out of bounds at the Kicking Horse Resort.
The incident highlighted “an alarming oversight,” BCRSA said. “While the provincial government provided third-party coverage and compensation to individual volunteers called out to a search, it didn’t cover the societies for which they were members.”
As a result, several B.C. teams suspended or limited operations, and society executive members and directors stepped down from their positions, fearing they could lose their homes and personal finances if a major incident occurred.
In mid-March, Alberta passed legislation that will see the province cover the costs of liability insurance for its volunteer search-and-rescue teams.
Alberta’s 2009 insurance program for search-and-rescue volunteers includes $2-million liability limits, with a $5-million liability limit option.
Liability coverage includes, among others:
•    defense costs;
•    rendering of or the failure to render services;
•    $2-million limits for director and officer liability coverage.